A Not-So-Fresh Start
by OutskirtsOfNowhere
Summary: "If you erase everything, you have to erase my memories too." But since when was Flowey in charge? Now he must go through the adventure as the only character who remembers the past. But more than that, he needs to keep this from happening ever again. Everyone has worked too hard to have everything reset at a whim.
1. Reset

It's been a few days, a few weeks maybe. It's hard to quantify time when you have the power to reset it. Either way, it's time for a new adventure. But something odd happens as I start to reset the world. A yellow flower emerges from the ground. Flowey.

"Hi," he says. He pauses for a moment there, looking at you. "Seems as if everyone is perfectly happy. Monsters have returned to the surface, peace and prosperity will rule across the land." He smiles, as reassuring as you've ever seen him, though with a hint of worry in his eyes. "Take a deep breath… There's nothing left to worry about." He looks down, losing his smile. "Well… There is one thing. One threat left, one being to erase everything. Everything everyone's worked so hard for." He looks up. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you?"

Of course… He's talking about me.

"That's right, I'm talking about YOU," he continues. "You… you still have the power to erase everything. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys… If you so choose, everyone will be ripped from this timeline, and sent back to before all this happened." He was afraid. "Nobody will remember anything. You'll be able to do anything you want." He stopped, as though trying to find the right words. I grow impatient. "That power… I know that power," he laments. "That's the power you were fighting to stop, wasn't it? The power I wanted to use, but now the idea of resetting everything… I…," he stammers. "I don't think I could do it all again… not after all that." He looks at me nervously. "So please, just let them go… let Frisk be happy. Let Frisk live their life."

I am unmoved by his begging. I paid ten dollars for this power, and this world is in my hands now, not his… not that he has hands at the moment.

"But… if I can't change your mind, if you DO erase everything… You have to erase my memories, too."

Erase his memories? This intrigues me… is it a new choice? A way to get a new story path? Do I unlock something new if I refuse?

"I'm sorry," Flowey continues, a bit of sad laughter in his voice. "You've probably heard this a hundred times already, haven't you…" Well not yet, though I'm impressed by how well he knows me. "Well, that's all… See you later. Chara." And with that, he disappears underground.

And now I'm left with a choice.

 **Reset timeline?**  
 ***Yes No**  
 **Reset Flowey?**  
 **Yes *No  
**

He reappears, looking panicked for a moment. "Ha, you, uh… Hit the wrong button, pal. Here, lets try that again."

 **Reset Flowey?**  
 **Yes *No**

Flowey looks down at the choice I made. "No, no, no… Golly, you're having a hard time… uh… OH. You're used to four choices aren't you? Okay… Okay here, lets try this."

 **Reset Flowey?**  
 **Yes Yes Yes *No**

"Stop it!" he shouts. "…You… You're just used to picking the last choice because that's the one for mercy… yes that's it. Here, this should help!"

 **Reset Flowey?**  
 ***No Yes Yes Yes**

Flowey was silent for a minute. "You… you're only doing this because I asked you not to… aren'tcha? …This is just a new game for you… it's something new to alleviate your boredom. …Please, pal, you can't do this. This might just be a game for you but… It isn't for me." Tears fill his eyes. "Please don't do this… please… I can't stand not having a soul again, I can't stand being empty again after feeling so much love… You can't just do this to me. Just answer one more time."

 **Reset Flowey?**  
 **Yes *No**

He looks at the choice, then looks at me. "Okay… okay, friend. I don't know why you're trying to make me suffer but…" he trails off, laughing to himself as he disapears. "Ha… what am I saying? I know why. I know why."

And with that, I'm asked to name the fallen child. Chara. The true name. And the journey begins.

* * *

AN: I tried to post this earlier and... yeah that did not turn out well at all. I have absolutely no idea what happened. It's fixed now. Sorry to anyone who saw that train wreck. Guess that's what I get for trying to quickly crosspost from Ao3.


	2. The Flower Patch

The child lays silently in a small patch of flowers. There is just a single beam of light from high above, much further up than they could ever possibly climb. They get up, slowly, and take their first few steps in the underworld. It's getting darker, but ahead is a large and ancient stone doorway, and through there is another single illuminated circle of grass. Right where they would meet Flowey.

…Right where they would meet Flowey.

…Alright where is the little weed?

After the child wanders the room for a moment, I decide to direct them towards the exit. Toriel should appear soon.  
"Wait!" The high and familiar sound of Flowey's voice draws the child's attention. They turn around without my guidance. Flowey appears out of the ground. "Wait… wait… Frisk, don't go yet!"

Frisk's expression, as always, remains unchanged. Flowey, on the other hand, isn't entirely recovered from the little breakdown he had. He still looks fearful, and distraught over the entire world and future he just lost.

"Listen… this might sound weird but… You're in grave peril, Frisk. You… You don't know about the dangers of the underworld yet."

A text box appears.

 **Ask the flower…**  
 **How do you know me? *Are you a talking flower?**

"Yes… No… Well I wasn't always, but yes, I'm currently a talking flower," he responds, looking annoyed at the question. "But that isn't the point, Frisk."

 **Ask the flower…**  
 **What is the point? *How do you know me?**

"That's what I want to tell you!" Flowey looks almost… frantic. Frisk steps back. "No, don't go… I know you… You're my… You're my very best friend. And you've done all of this… before."

 **Tell the flower...**  
 **You're scary. *I don't believe you.**

"I know… I know, Frisk," he says quietly, looking down. "I guess I wouldn't either. Oh no…" He begins to shake and his voice sounds strained. "I don't know what to do. Oh no…"

 **Ask the flower...**  
 ***Are you okay? Are you crying?**

What? No mean choice? But this was just getting fun. Oh well… I'll let this one slide.

"No… No, I don't think so." With that, Flowey starts to sob. And without any input from you, Frisk slowly, carefully, goes towards him.

 **Comfort the flower?**  
 ***Tell him he's going to be okay. Hug him.**

Oh come on! This playthrough doesn't have many real choices so far.

"Heh… It's so like you to say that. Heh… heh…" He's still upset.

 **Hug the flower?**  
 **Yes. *Of course.**

Frisk hugs Flowey. I frown in annoyance. Okay that was funny the first two times, in the original timeline, not so much now.

"Wh- What are you doing?" Flowey asks shakily. His expression shifts a little, and he looks a little less distraught. "…Thank you." Frisk lets go of him and steps back again. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you all that at once… I almost scared you away didn't I? …Well no, probably not, I know you're brave. I never scared you before! No matter how hard I tried."

 **Ask the flower…**  
 ***Why did you try to scare me? Are you feeling better now?**

"Oh… I um… heh, well just a little uh… friendly fun?" Flowey shuffled a little. "Anyway, like I said, you don't know how things in the underworld work, right? Well let's fix that."

And with that a battle starts. It all looks the same, the familiar darkened field and four choice boxes. Flowey's normal music is playing. I move between the choices experimentally.

"Okay uh… hey quit wiggling for a second and listen up. In this world we take turns when we fight. There's a way out of almost every battle without killing anyone. If you do kill people that increases your execution points, which increases your LOVE. …LOVE isn't what it sounds like. It means Level Of ViolencE. You don't want it. It's not like you to-"

I choose fight, he's giving away the whole story. Hasn't this guy heard of spoilers?

A single point of damage hits flower. "Oh!" Flowey cries out. That wasn't right… The usual interface for a hit's power didn't show up. I could've done so much better than one hit point.

"F- Frisk… You… Didn't really want to hit me just now, right? You did that on accident... right?" A pause. "You didn't mean to? Okay. Good. No, it's okay, don't worry. You didn't mean it, it's okay."

What? No, I meant to do that. I definitely meant to do that. Is this going to force me into pacifism again?

"Okay now to learn about dodging." Several dots appeared over the hit-box. "Do you know what these are, Frisk?"

 **These are…**  
 **Bullets. *Friendliness Pellets!**

"Yes, they're frien- what? No, theres nothing friendly about these! These are bullets, Frisk. Bullets. And they will hurt you if you aren't careful, got it? You have twenty hit points… if it drops to zero, you'll die." Flowey pauses, looking at the bullets and very slowly sending them towards the hit-box. "So you have to dodge!"  
I smile, and don't let Frisk move their soul. Two pellets hit it. Flowey's face clearly shows his horror and shock.

"Frisk! You didn't dodge! Golly, are… Are you okay? Okay, you still have eighteen points now… So you won't die. Just be careful. Let's practice again." He makes the bullets go towards Frisk's soul again, even more slowly. I make it run into another one.

"Ah! No, stop." The music halts suddenly, and Flowey stares straight ahead. "You. You're making them do this, aren'tcha? …Chara, you need to stop this. I don't know why you would guide Frisk to safety once just to hurt them now but you better stop it." The music starts again. "Heh… sorry Frisk, we should be able to do this now. Ready? Dodge the bullets." They move at a snail's pace and in a single file line on the left side of the hit-box. I don't take too kindly to a flower bossing me around. I run into all of them.

Flowey's face shifts into one he normally puts on to be intimidating. "Chara! Stop it! Just leave them alone! What's wrong with you?" I smile. "Frisk this is too dangerous… With them here, we… we can't practice this now. Just stay with me… I'll keep you safe until we find Mo- I mean… Toriel. She can protect you. For now… I'll spare you."

 **The flower is sparing you.**  
 ***Fight Act Item Mercy**

Another point of damage hits Flowey. "Oh! …Frisk, stop trying to fight me... I don't want to hurt you. Anyway, this... this isn't like you…"

 **The flower is sparing you.**  
 ***Fight Act Item Mercy**

Another hit. "Frisk…" Flowey begged. "I can't hurt you on purpose after everything you did. Please…"

 **The flower is sparing you.**  
 ***Fight Act Item Mercy**

"…Fine." Flowey creates a ring of bullets, slowly closing in. "You want to play this way, Chara? We'll play. And you will never go any further than this room! And you'll never use Frisk to hurt anyone else ever again! I'll make sure of it!" I almost expect him to laugh, instead, he just looks incredibly sad. "I… I'm sorry Frisk. I wish I could save you… You deserve so much better, but at least now I can save the rest of the underworld." The bullets slowly moved in until…

A small ball of fire knocks Flowey aside. "Ah!" He disappears. A goat-like woman, with long floppy ears and small horns moves forward.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…" she says in a soft, kind voice, oblivious to Flowey's intentions. Frisk takes a step away from her, having never seen a monster before. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through here every day to see if anyone has fallen down," she explains gently. "You're the first in a long time… Come, I will guide you through the ruins." The battle is exited, no execution points are gained... for now, anyway. "This way," Toriel says, leading Frisk forward.

I wonder how much Flowey will try to stop me… whatever happens, this might just be the most interesting path yet.


	3. The Ruins

For a while, the adventure seemed to progress as normal. Toriel led Frisk through a few rooms, I was able to SAVE for the first time. Toriel taught the concepts of puzzles, of going through the ruins safely, of fighting, or rather, talking down the enemies within the ruins. From what I remember of the last timeline, Flowey wouldn't be showing up until after I killed Toriel.

Then again, being able to only do one point of damage to any given thing was making killing anything a problem. The dummy Toriel had instructed Frisk to practice talking to had quite literally given up out of boredom and floated away. And later, I had only been able to hit the Froggits once before Toriel scared them off with a disapproving glare.

This is getting annoying.

As we approach a long hall, Toriel, as usual, instructs Frisk to reach the end without her. I direct Frisk forward passing some vines, some pillars, Flowey…  
Frisk stops without my intervention.

"Oh good… I caught up," Flowey said, catching his breath.

 **Approach the flower?  
Yes *No**

Frisk moves on. "Hey stop!" Flowey shouts as the screen leaves him behind.

As we reach the end of the corridor, Toriel emerges from behind a pillar. "Greetings, my child, do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time," she explains. "Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise. I was testing your independence. ...What's that? You… do not feel very independent?"

Well this is new.

"Why is that, my child?" she asks, then pauses for a moment. "…Someone is with you? Did a Froggit follow you in, young one? …No? Hm…" Toriel looks puzzled. "Then you must mean that YELLOW FLOWER? Do you not? You do not need to be afraid of him, I have already taken care of him for you, my child."

 **Tell Toriel…  
*I saw the flower again. The flower was trying to help me.**

"Again? Well where is he?" I am able to guide Frisk again, and I move back to where Flowey appeared. Oddly, he isn't there anymore. "I do not see anyone else, my child. Are you sure you saw anyone? These vines might have just looked like a flower." Taking Frisk's hand, she guides them back to the front of the room. "I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here, it is dangerous to explore by yourself." She looks thoughtful. "I have an idea, I will give you a cell phone. You can call me if you need anything." She starts towards the exit. "Be good." She leaves.

There is a quiet rustling sound. Frisk turns away from the exit Toriel just left through. I start to move them to follow Toriel, but the rustling sound is heard again, and Frisk turns immediately. I sigh, and go to investigate the noise. The thick patch of vines that looks different from the other, single vines in the room is shaking. Frisk moves towards it.

"…Is she gone?" Flowey asks, sticking his head out of the vines.

Frisk steps back in surprise.

"Oh… Sorry. Listen, please don't run off again, I need to talk to you."

 **Ask the flower…  
What's happening? *What's going on?**

"I think… You're being controlled. Just a little. That's what you were trying to tell Toriel just now, wasn't it? She thought you were talking about me though."

 **Ask the flower…  
What's controlling me? *How do you know I'm being controlled?**

"It's… complicated. But I think that my old friend Chara is doing it. They guided you through your journey once and… then reset it all. So they must be doing it again… I think." Flowey paused. "Honestly, I thought you were them when we first met. I just… feel like they must be there I guess. I mean they made you respond to their name!"

Because I had no way of knowing Frisk wasn't Chara in the first timeline… but sure.

 **Ask the flower…  
*Why would they do this? Can we make them stop?**

"They're… bored… I think," Flowey says. "I can't think of any other reason, really. But this world was already perfect... tell me, if you make something, but you don't want to keep it, what do you usually do with it?"

 **Tell the flower…  
I give it away. *I destroy it.**

"Yeah… exactly. After everyone is saved… we see what would happen if everyone were killed. I think… I think that's their intention. But I don't want that to happen… Not anymore." He looks up at Frisk. "Frisk… I know that… this all must seem so overwhelming but… Frisk, I'd like to help you. And I'd like to go with you. Is that okay? …Yes? Gosh, thanks Frisk. …I'm Flowey by the way, I think I forgot to tell you, sorry."

 **Flowey joined the party! ...Wait...**

"Wait… wait, how am I going to do this…" Flowey looked at his roots, clinging to the dirt behind the vines. I can't actually walk… see I know where you usually show up so I usually just take short cuts and… y'know… wait there… How am I supposed to do that? ….Oh! I know, there's a bowl a couple rooms over. I'll meet you there, okay Frisk?" And with that he disappeared into the ground.

A party system… While I would like to go through the adventure without being impeded by Flowey, this might be my only chance to recruit him in this playthrough. And I know already that he's more powerful than just about any monster in the game. I'll take him with me. Best to keep your enemies closer.

Frisk continues to the next room, then moves North. Within this room is a pedestal and upon it, a bowl of candy. Flowey pops out of the ground nearby. "Great, you made it. Now, we can use that bowl to carry me around! …If you don't mind, I mean." Frisk moves forward to the bowl. Upon the pedestal is a note: Take one.

 **What do you do?  
Dump the bowl out. *Take a piece of candy.**

"Uh… yeah okay… Humans get hungry easily I guess. Can you dump the bowl out now?"

 **What do you do?  
Dump the bowl out. *Take a piece of candy.**

"You aren't going to eat all that at once are you? You'll get a cavity," Flowey says.

 **What do you do?  
Dump the bowl out. *Take a piece of candy.**

Flowey looks exasperated. "Frisk, stop being greedy, we need to move on."

 **What do you do?  
Dump the bowl out. *Take a piece of candy.**

"Oh for the love of-" A crash echoes through the room. "…Seriously, Frisk?" The bowl lays on the ground, shattered. The candy is spilled. I am the scum of the Earth, apparently. "Okay… Okay this is fine. We can think of something else. Like… uh…" Flowey trailed off, thinking. "Here you keep going for a while, and I'll get back to you." And he disappears into the ground again.

I continue, going past piles of red crunchy leaves and sudden pitfalls. A few monsters appear, and despite my reluctance, I spare them. Maybe playing along with what the world seems to want will yield its own reward. Finally after a few encounters, puzzles, and calls from Toriel, I reach the room with the mouse's hole. It fills Frisk with determination, and I move on. Ahead of me, Flowey seems to be negotiating with a (not actually) asleep ghost.

"Move. Move. Moooooovvvvveeeee."

"Zzzzzz," was Napstablook's reply.

Well, only one way to get through here. I use force, and a fight begins.

I spend the first turn checking the enemy: Napstablook, a ghost with no sense of humor. "oh, i'm REAL funny…" they say sadly, and begin to cry. The tears are easy enough to dodge. Flowey appears on screen next for his turn.

"Hey, it's alright Napstablook… uh… don't you have a trick with a hat or something?" he says, trying to be gentle. It's an odd sight.

Napstablook is upset. "you gave away my only surprise…" Flowey looks regretful. My turn. I smile a little at the ghost. "heh…" they reply weakly. They opted not to attack that turn, apparently not feeling up to it.

"Uh… You make cool mix tapes, right?" Flowey asks.

"you… think the tapes i make are cool…" Napstablook mutters inquisitively.

My turn.

 **Fight *Act Item Mercy**

My options this time are different, limited to "check" or "talk about spooky music" I opt for the later.  
"well i have one you might think is okay…" Napstablook says, looking for a cd player. He plays "spookwave" and the echoing music fills the room. I see a Whimsun flee in fear. "do… you think its okay…" the ghost asks.

 **Tell Napstablook  
It's great! *I love it!**

Napstablook looks happy. They spare Frisk and Flowey. "i didn't think anyone would like my music… i usually come here because there's so few people down here but… you two are okay. i'll see you around…" And they fade away.

"Phew… glad that turned out alright," Flowey says. " Now in the next room, there should be a spider bake sale. If we buy a jug of cider, I can just sit in the jug. Sound good?" He waits, apparently for Frisk to answer, then says, "Great, I knew I could count on you. Just come back here once you have the jug."

I direct Frisk East. Within the next room, two spider webs. I know I have the option of a donut or cider. I only have enough money for one… So I opt for the donut. Obviously.

When I return, Flowey looks crestfallen. "Is… that… a donut? I said cider, you know. Do you know what cider is? Forget it, I thought this might happen so I got my own money. I'll be right back. Flowey disappears underground, and just a few moments later, he reemerges and sets a jug on the ground and pours it out. "Eugh… spider juices… anyway, if you could break the top off and put some dirt in here, that would be swell."  
Frisk does so without me prompting them. Once the jug is filled with dirt, they carefully plant Flowey and pick him up. "Ah... much easier. Now, we can really get moving through this place!"

 **Flowey joins the party! For real this time!**

Battles became… different with Flowey at Frisk's side. Sometimes they were easier, sometimes not. Often he would offer extra observations, such as the fact that Whimsuns have an older sibling, not nearly as nice, or that often the monsters that pick on Loox are Migosps, who only do so when they aren't alone, and that Loox only bullies others when in a group as well, so they really aren't so different. Though the situation has been changed somewhat, the puzzles within the ruins are the same and I get through it quickly.

Eventually Frisk goes past a froggit to a room with a view of the old ruined city, far beyond. It almost seemed like a sight that would fill them with determination. "Oh hey, a toy knife…" Flowey said, looking at it. "Heh… that… kind of brings back memories."

 **Ask Flowey...  
Memories of what? *Do you like knives?**

"Me? Oh gosh no… not really, anyway. But my- …Chara did. They really wanted a real one but… I wasn't allowed to get them one. I gave them a fake one once though and they… threw it away somewhere. Said it wasn't too useful. …Heh, I guess a toy knife really isn't that useful if you think about it." Frisk picks the knife up. "You'd want something like that? But… It isn't even sharp!" He pauses. "That's okay? …Heh you really are different from Chara. C'mon Frisk, Toriel's house is right around the corner."

Frisk exits, holding the toy knife and Flowey's jug tightly. "Hey… Frisk… Did Toriel ask you if you liked cinnamon or butterscotch earlier? Which did you say? …..Heh, wow… Me too. How weird."


	4. Home

It seems as though Flowey was almost sweating as Frisk approaches the house in the ruins. Just as they get to the tree in front of it, Toriel exits her home. "Oh dear, that took longer than I thought," she says, as she takes her phone and puts it to her ear to call Frisk. That's when she sees them just ahead. She runs to them quickly. "How did you get here, my child? Are you hurt?" She pauses, and looked at Flowey. He gulps in fear. "Is this… the flower from earlier?"

 **Tell Toriel…  
We're friends now. *He's a different flower.**

"A… a different flower? But he looks the same as the other one. Exactly the same. Are you lying to me, young one?" Toriel asks. Darn, busted.

"Please don't be mad at them, theyre just tryin' to protect me, m- ma'am," Flowey says, still trying to look and sound harmless and polite. He's good at that, I'll admit he did trick me the first time around and made me think that bullets really were "friendliness pellets." …I might be a sucker for an innocent face though.

Luckily, it seems Toriel is as well. "I see… you two must be friends now then," Toriel turned her attention back to Frisk. "Well we should put your new friend in a better pot than a Spider Cider jug. Come along," she says, leading Frisk into her house. Before entering, Frisk gets a good look at it. It fills Frisk with determination.

The inside of Toriel's home is simple, but incredibly cozy. The gentle music playing makes it really feel like home… safe, secure, familiar. "Do you smell that?" Toriel asks. "Surprise! It's a butterscotch-cinnamon pie! I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on the snail pie for tonight." Flowey looked a little disappointed at that. "Here, I have another surprise for you," she says, and walks down the hall to the right.

"Heh… she… she makes really good pies. You'll like them, Frisk," Flowey says.

Frisk goes down the hallway too, and Toriel shows them a room of their very own as she pats their head. "Now all you need is a pot for your friend. I'll be right back, you make yourself at home."

And she left, going towards her room to find a flower pot. Frisk enters their room. The whole space was a sort of dusty red. It feel incredibly welcoming to them. They look at the toys, with Flowey pointing out his favorite one… that is if he had to choose a favorite of course! Then move onto the shelf next to a box of shoes, then the wardrobe, filled with striped clothing. Flowey's eyes seem to linger on a green and yellow shirt for a moment before Frisk closes the wardrobe. Then they turn to the doorway.

"Sorry that took a minute," Toriel says, entering the room and placing a terracotta flower pot on the ground. It is painted with a few crudely drawn flowers. Flowey looks at them, almost somberly. "This should keep your friend nice and happy, with plenty of room to grow," she continues. "Do you need help moving him?"

 **Answer Toriel…  
Yes. *No.**

"Okay. …Are you sure you can do it on your own? …Well alright, if you're sure. I'll get a glass of water for him though."

Meanwhile, Frisk moves Flowey into the pot. "Thanks," Flowey says, still looking around the room with obvious nostalgia. "Heh… Didn't think I'd ever see a place like this again." Frisk picks the pot up and puts it on the shelf. Flowey looks at a dusty and empty picture frame in silence.

Toriel returns to the room eventually, giving Frisk the cup of water and letting them pour it into the flower pot. "The pie is still too hot to eat. Why don't you get some rest? You must be tired after going through those ruins." Frisk nods and climbs into bed. "Sleep well, my child," Toriel says as she turns off a light.

 **Tell Toriel good night?  
No, too tired. *Good night, Mom.**

Toriel looks at Frisk, then smiles a little before exiting the room. The music changed slightly, to something sounding much more like a sort of lullaby. Just before Frisk nodded off completely, a very small voice repeats, very quietly, "Good night…Mom."

When Frisk awakens, Flowey isn't where they left him and a piece of pie is on the ground. Frisk gets out of bed and picks up the pie before going over to the shelf where Flowey's pot was. They turn the lights on, and I move them through a more thorough search of the room. There still is no sign of Flowey. Frisk exits the room, going to look in Toriel's. Diary of bad puns, tsundere cactus, and scandalous sock drawer are intact, but there's still no sign of Flowey. Frisk searches the hall and then moves on to the main room of the house. Calendar of 201X, check, small shelves, check… no Flowey. Frisk walks to the kitchen but stops, just short of the door.

"So you were teaching the child… How to defend themselves?"

"Yes… but… I guess from your view it looked pretty bad."

"Hm…" it didn't sound like she believed him.

 **Eavesdrop?  
*Yes. No.**

"Listen… Toriel… I helped them through most of the ruins. I have their best interests at heart."

"But why? Why do you care about them?"

Flowey is silent for a second. "Why do you?"

"…I do not want to see any other humans leave this place and…"

"And die. Right?" Flowey asks. Toriel's silence is as good as any confirmation. "So why can't that be true for me, too?"

Toriel sounds sad. "You don't have a reason to feel that way…"

"Heh… you have no idea. My best friend was a human, and they fell from the overworld, just like Frisk did."

"That is not possible," Toriel objects. "I check every day to see if any new humans have fallen."

"Well… Guess you missed one, Toriel."

She pauses, thinking about that, then quite suddenly says," I do not remember telling you my name."

Flowey's gulp is audible. "I uh… Frisk told me."

"I see." It sounds like she accepted that. "Well either way I appreciate your help, making sure young Frisk arrived here safely, but…"

"I need to make sure they stay safe," Flowey insists. "I'm not much of a burden, I promise."

"Hm…" Toriel seems to be considering it. "…Oh, Frisk, is that you outside the door?"

Frisk jumps, startled. "Frisk! Morning," Flowey says, sounding embarrassed at being caught discussing them. "Get enough sleep?"

Frisk goes into the room completely. Toriel is seated at the table eating what looks to be snails and water sausage. Flowey is on the table, shuffling a little uncomfortably. Frisk goes to him and picks him up. "Breakfast?" Toriel asks, going to make them a plate before they can respond. She comes back with a small plate of… eggs, thankfully. …Well, no, there is a singular snail on the side. Frisk sits and eats. "Do you like it? It's one of my own recipes."

"It smells really good…" Flowey says, almost longingly.

"Do… Flowers eat? Or just photosynthesize? I do not want to be rude, but I have never seen a monster like you before, Flowey," Toriel says.

Flowey frowns. "It's okay… guess I'm kind of one of a kind."

 **Tell Toriel…  
He's a daisy. *He said he wasn't always a flower.**

"What? …What do they mean by that?" Toriel asked, sounding confused and suspicious.

Flowey looks to the left, trying to think of some way to divert attention away from what Frisk told her. "Uh… well… I just told them earlier, I think I'm a… Re-in-carnation?" He smiles, waiting for a response.

Toriel is silent for a moment, then starts to giggle. "Oh, that's a good one."

"Thank you," Flowey says proudly. He seems very relieved as well, though Toriel doesn't notice.

Toriel turns her attention back to Frisk. "Are you done with your breakfast? You forgot to eat that snail. Oh, you're full? Well okay." Toriel takes the plate and goes to wash up.

"So now what," Flowey asks. Frisk silently picks up the pot. I direct them towards the stairs. "Hold on… uh… I think we forgot something in the ruins, we should go get it." I keep moving Frisk forward, down the stairs, and down the basement hall, towards where I know the exit of the ruins is.

Toriel catches me before I get too far. She suggests playing in the yard. I try again, and this time she suggests a book. Looks like Frisk can't get past her. Frisk goes outside.

"You know, this place is nice. Quiet… safe… it could be home," Flowey says, looking at the tree in the front. "And there's a whole city down here to explore, and home baked pies, and Toriel could use help gardening I bet. Maybe we can… stay? A while?" Frisk doesn't answer him. "Well… at the very least you should go get the ballerina shoes, you'll need them later."

Backtracking through the ruins was tedious at best. But Flowey isn't wrong. Without the ability to do any real damage to monsters, I'll need as much defense as possible. So I pick up the shoes and start my way back.

"We could go buy more Spider Donuts," Flowey suggests. He seems worried when there's no reply. "Or… or Spider Cider, if you prefer." I keep Frisk going. They're nearly back to Toriel's house. "Hey… you know you never found the secret of the city last time."

The secret of the city? I've never heard of that.

"It'll make you pretty powerful," Flowey continues. "Maybe strong enough that you'll actually be able to hit something like you mean it. Remember where we found the toy knife? You can go there to get to the rest of the old city." He's probably lying… but it's worth a shot. I go there and poke around the room for a while. After going over and investigating every square of the room- twice- I exit. "Heh… I forgot, you have to look through some books first. It's late though… you can do that tomorrow. In the meantime… Snail pie?"

Frisk goes back to Toriel's house and picks at dinner while she dotes on them. I try talking to Toriel a few times, but I don't get the usual responses. I guess I'll have to wait a day before Frisk asks how they can leave. Eventually Toriel ushers Frisk and Flowey into their room, and Frisk sets Flowey on the shelf before going to sleep.

"It's a beautiful day in the ruins, huh?" Flowey asks the next day as I go back to the room with the toy knife. I already checked every bookshelf in the house, now I'm going over every square in the room… again. "Think Toriel will make another snail pie for dinner? I hope so, it smelled good. Hey, isn't the house great?"

 **Ask Flowey…  
Can you even smell anything without a nose? *Do you know Toriel from somewhere?**

"Know… Toriel? I… no, I just uh… I know of her," Flowey says, shuffling. I continue searching the room. There's absolutely nothing there. It's time to leave the ruins. I start Frisk back on the right path when Flowey speaks again. "Frisk, you… do like it here, right? Do you at least like Toriel and the house and everything?"

 **Answer Flowey…  
I like it here, but… *I like her, but…**

Flowey frowns. "Why would you ever want to go back to the surface? Isn't this a good enough home? I mean, Toriel is so kind to you. She lets you call her Mom, and cooks for you, and teaches you things about snails and plants, and protects you. …I wish she would… treat me… like she treats you." Flowey trails off, then looks at Frisk seriously. "There's friends to be made out there, but you won't ever find another place like this. You know that right?"

 ***Yes. No.**

"So you're going to stay here?"

 **Yes. *No.**

"But… why?" Flowey asked, a hint of despair in his voice. "I know… there's something making you feel like you have to, Frisk, but you don't. You can just live your life the way you want. You don't have to do anything more than that. Really."

Back at the house, I have Frisk check everything again to try to prompt Toriel to ask if they need anything. Eventually, Toriel takes me to the room again, and Frisk falls asleep. When they wake up, Flowey is gone again. Frisk goes to check the kitchen for him.

"Okay, how about this one… What happens when a froggit's car breaks down?" Toriel asks.

"I dunno, what?" Flowey replies.

"It gets… Toad away."

Flowey laughs. "Ha, okay so did you hear about the vegetoid who fell down a pitfall and got stuck? He's still happy though, he didn't carrot all."

Toriel laughs too. …This is the worst display of humor that Frisk has ever seen. "Oh, good morning, young one. Would you like to… kid around with us?"

 **Answer Toriel…  
*No, just… no. No, these puns have goat out of hand.**

"Aw, don't be such a bore," Flowey pouted.

Frisk goes to talk to Toriel. "I am sorry if this is too much, but… I wanted to let you know how glad I am that you are staying here. I have so many books I want to share with you, I want to show you my favorite bug hunting spot, and I've prepared a curriculum for your education. This may be a surprise, but I've always wanted to be a teacher," she smiles, then admits, "That probably isn't surprising at all is it? Still, I am glad to have you living here… and Flowey too, surprisingly. Do you need anything, my child?"

 **Nothing. *When can I go home?**

Toriel looked taken aback, behind her, Flowey was shaking his head vigorously. "This… is your home now. Do you want to see the book I'm reading? It is called 72 Uses for Snails."

 **Sure. *I want to go home.**

Toriel frowned. "Um… how about an exciting snail fact?"

 **Sure. *How about how to exit the ruins.**

She is quiet for a few seconds, then says, "Sorry, I have to do something. Stay here." And she leaves quickly. Frisk follows her.

"Frisk! Frisk wait, you forgot me!" Flowey shouts from the table.

Toriel descends the stairs, and Frisk goes down them as well, just a moment later. At the bottom of the stairs, Toriel stands, looking ahead. "You wish to know how to return "home," do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the ruins. A one way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will be able to leave again. Now go be a good child and go play with Flowey upstairs." She continued forward. Frisk chases after her. "Every human that falls down here meets the same fate… I've seen it too many times, and so has your friend. They try to leave… and die. If you try to leave the ruins, Asgore will… Please just go upstairs, Frisk."

Frisk continues to follow her. "Go to your room. …Do not try to stop me, this is your final warning." She continues until she reaches a stone door. "You really want to leave? …Hmph… You are just like the others. Fine, then prove yourself, prove you are strong enough to survive.

The fight starts. I remember the toy knife… surely that will be enough to let me do some damage. I attack experimentally. Finally, the interface shows up, and I manage to get a decent hit against Toriel. Her first attacks aren't too easy to dodge, but I manage to avoid most of the potential damage. I try to fight again, but this time a message appears, "You hear someone approaching." Frisk does one damage and once again, I have to dodge attacks. Toriel looks through Frisk. I try to attack again… and…

"Don't hurt Mom!" I hear Flowey and the battle stops for a moment. Through sheer determination, he seems to have hopped with his terracotta pot all the way downstairs and to the exit of the ruins. I don't get an attack that turn, but Toriel certainly does. This time around, her fire magic seems a little easier to avoid. I try to attack again. "Don't." Flowey says. No attack for me. I guess I have to do this the hard way. After dodging more fire magic, I start trying to spare her.

After a few tries, Toriel gets annoyed. "What are you doing?" she asks. "Fight or run away," she demands. I continue trying to spare her and my health grows lower until she is forced to make her magic avoid Frisk altogether. "What are you trying to prove?" she asks. "Stop." Then after a few more turns, she stops fighting. "I know you want to go home, but please go upstairs now." She smiles. "I promise I will take care of you here. I know we don't have much but…"

Flowey meanwhile, looks relieved, as well as… unguarded. I prompt Frisk to attack. Nothing happens. I prompt Frisk to attack again. Nothing. Frisk won't attack her… because Flowey asked them not to? No… this should work… why won't it? I should be able to kill her in one attack while her guard is down. I don't do anything, and to my surprise, Frisk spares her again, without me prompting them to. Then they keep doing it… again… and again. "Hah… pathetic isn't it?" Toriel eventually says. "I cannot save even one child."

"You… you always did your best, Toriel. Right Frisk?"

She shakes her head as though Frisk agreed. "No, I understand. You would be unhappy trapped down here. The ruins are small once you get used to them. My expectations… My loneliness... My fear… For you, my child, I will put them aside." She stopped the fight, and hugged Frisk. "If you want to leave… I will not stop you." Flowey looks on, staying silent, until Toriel picks him up, catching him off guard. "You called me 'Mom.' That surprised me."

"Oh… yeah," he says, embarrassed and sad. "I… hope you didn't mind."

"If you continue to keep Frisk safe, and it makes you happy… No, I do not mind, my child." At these words, Frisk didn't think Flowey could have looked more happy.

Toriel lets go of Frisk, hands Flowey back to them and stands. "Goodbye," she says, and she leaves the two at the exit of the ruins, returning to her home, only turning to look back at them once.

Flowey sniffled. "I'll miss her. But… She's right. If you really want to go home, I guess I can't stop ya. Let's keep going." Frisk steps forward with him, and they go through the door together.

* * *

AN: Looking back, I think this was one of my favorite chapters to write. Also, just so everyone knows, i think i mentioned in the first chapter AN that I'm cross-posting these from Archive of our own. If you want to look it up on there I have up to chapter 12 done. I know not everyone prefers ao3 though, so i'm posting it here too in my free time, but if you don't feel like waiting it's there. My user name is Outskirts_Of_Nowhere on there.


	5. The Snowdin Forest

It takes a while for the two to ascend the hallway after the door. It's gently sloped, leading them upwards, as the area around them grows gradually lighter. "It's getting kinda chilly," Flowey said as they reached the end. The next room is pitch black, however. Ahead of them is a small patch of grass. Frisk stares at it, seemingly transfixed. "That's usually where I talk to you. D'you remember or something?" Flowey asks hopefully. Everything is still… Perhaps the world is expecting Flowey to be there in the center? I hope I'm not going to have to reload this.

Finally, after waiting for a minute or so, a voice echoes through the area. "That's a wonderful idea!"

"That… that wasn't me," Flowey says, looking spooked. "I mean, that was my voice but… I didn't say that. I've never said that to you."

It seems like Frisk is less affected, and I'm able to get the two of them out of the room. The snow in the woods is momentarily disorienting and the two look around for a moment in silence.

"…Guess the next step is getting to Snowdin. It isn't too far, but there's a lot of monsters between here and there. Be careful." Frisk moves forward, along the only direction they can. Any other potential paths are blocked off by the dense woods. The trees loom ominously above them and occasionally one will obscure them even from my view. "Don't trip on that big branch there." Frisk steps over it, it looks tough and much too heavy to pick up. After walking a bit past it they hear a large crunch. They turn back to investigate. "It's completely broken, like it was nothing," Flowey remarked. He's looking uneasy.

Frisk keeps going. I catch a glimpse of a perusing shadow and both Frisk and Flowey look back. "Don't stop walking… there's someone here," Flowey instructs. Frisk does so, but the shadow is there again. "Can't you go any faster?" Flowey asked. They reach a bridge, and stop dead in their tracks. The figure approaches, slowly.

" n," a slow, monotone, and menacing voice spoke. "Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

"Don't do it, just run!" Flowey whispered.

Frisk turns around… holds out their hand… and…

PBBHHTTHHBHHTHHHPHHTHHBBHTH...

"What… the…," Flowey mutters as they look up at the new pal in question. If anything, they look even more horrified to see the short and stout skeleton before them.

"heheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick," he says, sounding much less menacing than previously. "it's ALWAYS funny."

"Oh no," Flowey whispers, "Not you…"

"huh?" the skeleton asks, looking at Flowey and shrugging him off, "sorry i spooked your daisy. anyway, you're a human right? that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. i'm actually supposed to be looking for humans right now but… y'know… meh." While he speaks, Flowey tries, ineffectively, to move Frisk along. It doesn't escape Sans's notice. "your little plant there seems worried. hey flower… don't i know you from somewhere?"

"What!? Me? Golly, I… I have no idea what you're talking about, Sans. None at all. Nope, not me, I'm just… nope!" Flowey blabs rapidly.

"huh… okay…" Sans looks at him skeptically before turning his attention back to Frisk. "anyway my brother papyrus is a human-hunting fanatic… and… i think that's him right over there." Frisk turns to look. Sans pushes them forward. "don't worry, i have an idea. go right through this gate, my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone anyway, and lets put you right behind this conveniently shaped lamp here," he says as he moves Frisk behind the lamp. As a last minute touch he places the flower pot on top of their head.

"Hey," Flowey protests.

"shut up and pretend to be a real plant," Sans whispers. The sound of crunching snow under footsteps was rapidly approaching them. "sup, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP' BROTHER!" is the loud and enthusiastic reply. "IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVENT… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES!"

"heh oops," Sans says.

"DON'T 'OOPS' WHAT HAVE YOU EVEN BEEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp," Sans replied. "it's really cool. wanna try?"

"NO!" the skeleton said, stoping his foot. Frisk pokes their head up to look and Flowey shoves them back down before going back to pretending to be a plant. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?"

"you'll capture it?" Sans asks.

"YES! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN. AND I WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I DESERVE: RESPECT, RECOGNITION, A PLACE IN THE ROYAL GUARD… AND PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE MY…FRIEND? BUT ONLY IF I'M READY AND YOU CALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLES!"

"i think it might help more if you look at this cool lamp."

"SANS, YOU'RE NOT HELPING. LAZYBONES. ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

"hey take it easy, i've gotten a ton of work done today. …a skele-ton." He grins and winks.

Papyrus had to work not to grin. "TERRIBLE."

"oh come on, you're smiling," Sans teased.

"I AM AND I HATE IT."

"Heh, that was actually pretty funny…" Flowey says quietly.

"WHO SAID THAT?" Papyrus asks, looking everywhere but the lamp.

"i think the lamp appreciates my sense of humor."

"NO IT DOES NOT. SIGH, WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO WORK SO HARD TO GET RECOGNIZED."

"sounds like you're working yourself… down to the bone."

"AHH, I'M GOING TO ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES. AS FOR YOU… PUT A LITTLE MORE… BACKBONE INTO YOUR WORK. NYEHEHE…" his voice gradually trails off as he leaves.

"you know… papyrus has been down lately and really wants to see a human. seeing you might really cheer him up," Sans says. "don't worry. he isn't dangerous, even if he tries to be." He looks at Flowey and his pupils vanish. "Unlike me." He lets Flowey look horrified for a moment before returning to normal. "heh, just joking. anyway, i'll be up ahead. see ya."

Flowey waits until Sans walks away to speak. "He isn't joking. He really isn't joking at all. Listen… if you only listen to one thing I say, listen to this. That guy… is scary. I had to reset more times because of him than anyone."

 **He doesn't seem that scary. *Reset?**

"Oh… you haven't had to do that yet, have you? Well you've seen those places that make you determined, right? If you mess up, you can go back to those. You should try it next time we see one, that way you can practice in case you need to."

Frisk picks him up, and walks eastward. Conveniently enough, a good spot for determination is there. "Alright," Flowey says. "Feel determined? Now lets do something you wouldn't want to stay done."

 **Eat the cinnamon-butterscotch pie. *Kill Flowey.**  
 **…No. You won't.**  
 ***Eat the cinnamon-butterscotch pie. Kill Flowey.**

Frisk takes the pie out and eats it. I am… annoyed. Yet again, Frisk seems to be acting on their own. Must be a result of refusing to reset Flowey… what a weird effect.

"Hey, good idea. Alright. Now you just load the save."

Guess this is my cue. I load it and Frisk ends up right where the lamp filled them with determination and the butterscotch pie is back in their inventory.

"Great," Flowey says. "Now, time to tackle these Boneheads' puzzles."

They two of them go through a few screens worth of random encounters and puzzles. They're all pretty simplistic, and I know how to do all of them. Guiding Frisk through poses no problem. That is until I reach the area where San's "puzzle" normally is. Oddly enough, I don't see the word-search there.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus says, "I HOPE YOU ARE READY FOR… SANS, WHERE IS YOUR PUZZLE!?"

"right here, calm down…" Sans pulls a remote from his shirt and presses a button. A large wall with movable tiles appears before Frisk and Flowey. "slide these pieces and it should make a picture. here's the catch though… you only get to move five pieces. after that, the puzzle shuts down, and you can't get past it. ever."

Papyrus looks at the puzzle for a moment and grins approvingly. "WOW SANS, YOU'VE REALLY OUTDONE YOURSELF FOR ONCE!"

"heheh thanks bro."

"We only get one shot?" Flowey asks, in shock.

"yeah. one," Sans replies.

"One?" Flowey asks again.

"uh huh."

"This is a joke… right?" Flowey asks. "Oh geez… okay, we can do this, Frisk. Stay determined."

I look at the puzzle and move a piece. Then another… then another. It doesn't look anywhere more close to being solved. I move two more pieces.

"that's uh… not right. sorry, no getting through for you," Sans says. The wall remains in place.

"Seriously?" Flowey asks. "Ugh… okay guess he is serious. You know what to do, right Frisk?"

I reload. I go through the previous puzzles. If anything, the monsters in my way are more of an impediment than the puzzles are. It's even easier than the last time, having just done them. It isn't too long before I get to the wall.

"Alright, we can do it this time, I'm sure," Flowey says encouragingly. I try the puzzle again… and I fail. Miserably.

"oops, sorry, that's not right," Sans says, shrugging.

Again. The puzzles. The monsters. I get to the wall. I fail.

"Ahhrrhhgg." Flowey's frustration is growing obvious.

"hey don't worry little guy, you just failed once… right? it happens."

Flowey doesn't answer Sans. "Frisk, just reload."

I reload. The same exact thing happens. Flowey is visibly furious. Sans is laughing at him, at Frisk, at me. "Would you stop?!" Flowey demands.

"hey it's fine, little guy. you only failed once."

"AHHGG!"

"heheh… tell you guys what. If you had come to me and told me a special word, i might've let you through. maybe."

"And what word would that be?" Flowey asks, looking exasperated.

"hmm," Sans considers it for a moment, then replies, "Fart-captain."

"…That's incredibly immature," Flowey protests.

"yep. and it's too late now to use it too."

I can see where this is going. I reset it. I get through the puzzles, to Sans. "I can't believe I have to say this but," Flowey mutters in annoyance, "Fart-captain."

"wow," Sans says. "that was incredibly immature."

"I know! Now let us through!"

"well, you had no idea that i had a secret code word but…" Sans winks, "i have another secret phrase. here, i'll whisper it." Sans walks closer to the wall and Flowey leans in.

"…Okay, fine. Got it," Flowey says.

"see ya soon," Sans replies.

I go through it all again. This timeline is testing me, the end must be spectacular. Flowey says once they arrive at the puzzle, "Papyrus can't cook spaghetti."

"WELL, I NEVER!" Papyrus storms off.

"well that was rude," Sans says. "it was also my secret-secret phrase, but you upset my brother so i still can't let you through."

"Let me guess, you have a secret-secret-secret phrase?" Flowey asks tiredly.

"ooh, you're getting good at this," Sans replies, then whispers the ultimately secret phrase.

I repeat the process a final time and Flowey, with some reluctance, tells him the phrase. "Papyrus is… the coolest. Ever. In the whole world. No one else is cooler, just Papyrus. He's wonderful and amazing and will definitely probably be in the royal guard. Some day." Flowey stops to make a face before he speaks to Sans. "There, you happy now?"

"FLATTERY WILL GET YOU NO WHERE," Papyrus replies instead of Sans.

"heheh… hey bro, why don't you get the next puzzle set up?"

"OKAY," Papyrus says as he leaves.

"alright then, to business…" Sans lowers the puzzle wall and approaches Frisk and Flowey. "you two… are time travelers… right?"

 **Yes. *No**

"i know you're lying to me. that's what this whole test was for. the puzzle itself… couldn't be solved. it was a trick."

"Cheater," Flowey accuses.

Sans shrugs, "hey, you're the one who resets whenever things don't go your way. cheater. and hypocrite." Flowey starts gnashing his teeth. Frisk stoically pats his petals. Sans smirks and turns slightly. "anyway, once you two get to snowdin, i'll need to show you something. there's a small… problem with our world. maybe someone with powers like yours could help solve it… unless you're causing it, in which case…" His eyes lose their pupils and he stares at them ominously. "I will find out." Flowey shrinks down in fear until well after his pupils return. Sans smiles and winks before strolling away.

"See what I mean," Flowey asks Frisk. "He's scary. …What do you mean you still think he's funny? You're ridiculous."


	6. Shaken Loose

Despite all odds, Frisk and Flowey manage to get past the remaining puzzles, armored dogs all but demanding to be pet, and Jerry and make it to Snowdin. They had run into Papyrus a few times, and it seemed as though Frisk was making another friend. Perhaps Flowey would get jealous. Once they arrive, I search around town for any new dialogue, but aside from the occasional comment about Flowey, it largely remains unchanged.

"Frisk, I gotta ask… why do you talk to everyone about three times?" Flowey finally comments. "Never mind, I guess that isn't important. We should get to those skeletons." Yeah, sure, don't rush me. I go to talk to everyone a fourth time while Flowey periodically complains about the cold weather.

Frisk and Flowey go eastward after checking the Librarby and eventually the brothers' house is within sight. Sans spots them outside and waves them in. "Here we go," Flowey mutters as they go inside.

Sans looks at them. They look back. The silence is palpable, and not just because of the ellipses above all of their heads.

"so," Sans finally says. "wanna sit on that sofa?" Frisk accepts the offer eagerly, and Flowey isn't really given much choice in the matter. "you two did good, getting through all those puzzles, except mine anyway. heh."

"Can we just cut to the chase?" Flowey asks. "We've got some sort of duel to the death with your brother scheduled."

"nah," Sans says, "i don't think papyrus would kill ya, and i know you wouldn't even consider killing him." Flowey swallows nervously. I get the feeling he's done exactly that, at least once. "you know, you two don't look much like time travelers," Sans says, looking at them critically. "not that i'd know what a time traveler looks like."

"How'd you know time travel is possible anyway?" Flowey asks. "You were really uh… prepared."

Sans shrugs, pacing, "our reports showed anomalies in the time space continuum and-"

"I don't even know what that means," Flowey interrupts.

"well… how does it work for you exactly?"

"I just… found out that if I don't want to die… I don't. It's that simple," Flowey says.

"and the kid?" Sans asks. "you're some sort of… i don't know what you are, but it isn't a monster. and the kid is human."

"How do you know I'm not a monster?" Flowey asks.

"easy," Sans replies. "monsters have souls."

"H…how do you know I don't?" Flowey asks nervously.

Sans doesn't answer him, instead smiling mysteriously and winking with his right eye while his left glows slightly. "i have my ways. anyway, kid is human, does that mean all humans can go back?"

"Uh…" Flowey frowned, thinking about that. "No," he eventually says. "Otherwise I don't think the king would've managed to collect six souls."

"yeah that's what i figured. funnily enough the fluctuations in the continuum increased significantly right before he started doing that though. how long have you been doing whatever it is you do, flowey?"

"Eheh…" he laughs nervously. "Okay, so… I might've restarted things a… few times."

"a few?" Sans asks.

Flowey looks down. "A few hundred…"

Sans whistles through his teeth. "huh. as impressive, and annoying, as that is, it doesn't quite account for all the fluctuations… there's something bigger going on here." He looks at Frisk. "how long has the kid been here?"

"Just a few days," Flowey replies.

"something's giving them this power, something different from the other humans who fell… …where exactly did you fall, frisk?"

 **In the ruins. *In a flower patch.**

"something about that patch maybe?" Sans wonders out loud. "those flowers… did they look like your buddy there?" he asks, pointing to Flowey.

"I don't think it has anything to do with the flowers," Flowey says.

 ***I think I'm possessed. Say nothing.**

Sans stares at them for a moment. "possessed? …did you meet a ghost in the ruins? they can't really possess people, y'know."

"Actually… I think… My friend who died might have latched onto them."

"monsters' souls don't stick around long, if you had one you'd know that," Sans says dismissively.

"I don't need a soul to know how they work!" Flowey protests. "Anyway, my friend wasn't a monster at all, they were human, just like Frisk."

Sans considers the possibility. "another human… laid to rest where frisk fell… human souls do linger, but we'd have no way of knowing… and why latch onto frisk?"

"Maybe they have the same sort of potential for determination?" Flowey speculates.

 ***My soul is red like theirs. Say nothing.**

"Hey, you're right! Maybe that's why I thought you two were the same!"

"similar souls and both having the potential for determination… it makes a good combo," Sans says. "did this old friend of yours have a name?"

"Chara," Flowey says.

"chara, right. well i'll see what i can do with this. you two keep doing your little adventure. i'll be in touch."

"How?" Flowey asks

Sans smiles. "Isn't it obvious? With my… tele-bone." Flowey cracks a smile in spite of himself.

 **Haha. *Terrible.**

"oh come on, frisk, you're smili- actually you aren't. actually, i don't think i've seen you move your face at all," Sans says. "anyway, i'm kidding about the tele-bone. i'll just find you."

"Again, how?" Flowey asks. Sans shrugs with a passive smile. "Fine, don't tell us. I know you can sneak up on people anyway…" Frisk looks between them quietly, then at the door. "Oh yeah," Flowey said. "Time to fight this guy's brother."

"have fun," Sans says. "and flowey? if you don't play nice, you're gonna-"

"I'm gonna have a bad time, whatever," Flowey says. "Let's go, Frisk."

Personally, having a bad time sounds pretty interesting to me. As Frisk goes eastward and frost obscures my view of them, I consider the possibilities to make that happen. Come to think of it, Flowey seems to be the one completely keeping Frisk from fighting properly… There has to be a way to distract them, perhaps…?

"HUMAN," Papyrus says, as his silhouette becomes visible. "LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. THE FEELING OF FINDING A FELLOW PUZZLE ENTHUSIAST AND PASTA AFICIONADO. THE FEELING OF BEING ABLE TO CALL SOMEONE WHO YOU THOUGHT WAS AN ENEMY A… …NO, I CANNOT BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. POOR, LONELY HUMAN WITH YOUR POOR, LONELY PLANT." He turns around dramatically. "YOU ARE A HUMAN, AND TO FULFILL MY DREAM, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CAPTURE YOU!"

The battle starts. I know I'll be locked out of my fight options until I can deal with Flowey… there must be a way. Under the act command… well I never tried "insult" before.

Frisk tells Papyrus that his brother is lazy. Papyrus agrees wholeheartedly, though still points out it's a rude thing to say about someone's family. The first attack is insultingly easy to dodge as well. I go for insult again, this time mocking Papyrus's lack of friends.

"WELL YOUR ONLY FRIEND IS A DANDELION."

Flowey takes offense to that. I dodge another effortless attack, then insult again. Frisk apparently tells Papyrus they'd rather have a dandelion friend than only having spaghetti for a friend. Papyrus declares that spaghetti is the most wonderful of all plant based products, flowers included. Flowey is growing impatient with their shenanigans.

Another round later and Frisk apparently makes some sort of comment about Sans's tendency to teleport. Papyrus responds that at least he moves on his own, unlike Flowey.

"If you two are just going to argue about me, I'm waiting somewhere warmer," Flowey says in annoyance as they hop away.

Perfect. Now's my chance.

 ***Fight Act Item Mercy**

The hit isn't overly powerful at level one, but it's decent. It's a start anyway. Papyrus declares his special attack, turning Frisk's soul blue. It matters little, as he muses about joining the royal guard, I'm slowly cutting down his life. As long as I can dodge his attacks successfully, I'll have my first kill of the new timeline, and as a result, my first meaningful choice so far.

At about half health, I start to notice subtle changes in the timing of attacks, they're getting more difficult to pull off correctly, but I stay focused. Meanwhile, my health is getting low enough that I have to give up one of my many pieces of candy. Then Frisk keeps attacking, lowering Papyrus's health until another hit or two should be enough to kill him.

 ***Flirt Act Item Mercy**

"WHAT?! FLIRTING?! SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR TRUE FEELINGS!" Papyrus says, instead of dying like he should.

I'm just as surprised as he is. I check and sure enough, "Fight" changed to "Flirt" without me noticing. I can't choose to fight at all anymore. Even without Flowey present… Even without the usual impediments to Frisk's attacks… I'll have to spare him.

No. I refuse, I reset, and I go into the fight again.

I can't imagine what Papyrus's monologue must look like to Frisk and Flowey as I speed through it. Eventually I get to the battle again.

 ***Flirt Act Item Mercy**

It's there again… I know parts of the world retain memories from resets, but this? A complete change to the very rules on which battles were run? It's the last straw. I walk away in frustration.

Moments later, I hear the sounds of choices being selected, Papyrus's voice, then Frisk's soul hitting a bone. Somehow Frisk seems to be continuing the battle… without me. I watch, helpless to the whims of the world that I'm supposed to be able to control as Frisk spares Papyrus. I stare, unacknowledged, as Frisk goes with him to befriend him. I try guiding Frisk away, but it seems even simple actions are out of my hands now.

And thus my choices were once again ignored, a boss is once again spared the fate I chose for them, and now worst of all, Frisk is going about the world completely on their own. This isn't how it's supposed to work, I know that much. It was amusing for a time, but I use this world to shape it the way I want to, not the way that would just benefit the pawns that should be at my command. This... isn't fair to me at all. It isn't right.

Well at least I know one thing now… Whatever I did at the start of this run has left my world broken beyond function. I'm no longer pulling the strings directly here, and nothing is as it should be. There must be some way to solve this. I think I'll let Frisk 'live their life' for now, and meanwhile… I'll do some troubleshooting. I'm sure I can fix the issue.


	7. Undyne's Pursuit

I leave Flowey and Frisk to go about the business on their own while I take a look at the rules and laws by which the world works. There must be a mistake I have to fix somewhere. This shouldn't take too long… I hope.

Meanwhile Flowey is placed on the sofa while Frisk goes off to have their "date" with Papyrus. My vision of them is split so that I can observe both of them, though neither seem too interesting. I mainly focus on trying to find the broken laws of the universe. Flowey sighs in boredom and manages to hop off the sofa, looking up at Sans's room. "Hm," he says quietly.

"wondering what's in there?"

"Ah!" Flowey jumps at Sans's voice. "No, why would I care?"

Sans shrugs. "…you know, i found something weird the other day. here." He holds out a piece of paper. Flowey looks at a drawing of a flower.

"Alright… So?"

"so nothing. looks like papyrus doodled it but he says he didn't. weird, right?"

"I guess?" Flowey replies uncertainly.

"were you two ever… friends in another timeline?"

"…No. Well, I uh… Might've talked to him a few times before the last reset," Flowey admits.

"and why would little ol' you do a thing like that," Sans wonders.

"Uhhhhh…" Flowey starts, then looks at the stairs. "Frisk, you're done? Good, let's go. …Now please?"

"I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY SECURED MY PLACE IN THE FRIENDZONE. IT IS VERY EXCITING! I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL UNDYNE!"

"cool bro."

Frisk picks Flowey up and heads out.

"GOOD BYE HUMAN," Papyrus says, waving.

"see ya," Sans says.

They walked through the frosted field into the cavern before Flowey spoke again. "Bleh he's just so creepy and weird and-" Flowey stops short when he sees Sans sitting at his booth in the cavern. "Never mind. He's also everywhere apparently…"

Frisk stops to talk to the monster kid, possibly about stripes, before moving on to the rest of the caverns. Aside from the sound of moving water, the caverns are dead quiet. Flowey looks around them quietly while Frisk moves purposfully ahead. It isn't long before they reach some tall grass. Frisk moves through it, causing it to shuffle around them. They hear a noise above and freeze in place, looking up.

"H... HI, UNDYNE. I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT..." It was obviously Papyrus. "ABOUT THAT HUMAN AND WEIRD FLOWER... NO I DIDN'T CATCH THEM. I... FAILED." A voice was faintly audible, but too muffled by armor to understand. "WHAT?" Papyrus replied. "NO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DESTROY THEM, SEE..." Undyne shot Papyrus what was presumably a sharp glare. "I... UNDERSTAND." Papyrus eventually says, and Frisk and Flowey hear him leaving.

Frisk tries to step away from the area, but the sound of moving grass grab's Undyne's attention. She approaches the edge of the cliff above them and gazes down. She readies her spear and looks around for them. Frisk covers Flowey's mouth and stands perfectly still. After a few moments, Undyne is unable to find them, so she steps back, and sight is lost of her. It is a while before Frisk feels safe enough to move again, but once they do, they start to leave the area quickly.

"That was close," Flowey whispers.

"Yeah so close, wasn't it cool, yo?" Frisk stops in their tracks and looks at the until then unnoticed tag-along. The monster their age looked ecstatic at seeing their hero. "Did you see the way she was staring at you?" the kid continues. "That was awesome, I'm so jealous." Flowey rolls his eyes, though the kid doesn't seem to notice. "Maybe she'll beat up some bad guys, c'mon dudes," the kid says before trying to run off, tripping, and running off again. Frisk follows, at a great distance. The next area has them moving seeds around to make a bridge. They figure it out in a decent amount of time.

They then spend a while just looking at the false stars, listening to the echo flowers, taking the cave in in general. Flowey looks through the telescope after Frisk. "Wow..." he says. "Say Frisk, do you see the stars a lot where you're from?"

 **Yes. *No, I'm from the city.**

"So? What's that got to do with stars? The city still has a sky doesn't it?" He doesn't give them much of a chance to explain light pollution before he looks through the telescope again. "Check the wall? Hm, weird. Hey-" Frisk picks him up and goes to the wall to check, sure enough theres a secret door behind it. A long dock stretches out in front of them.

Frisk starts down the dock, taking their time at first. They stop quickly when a spear lands in front of them. Undyne stands before them and raises another spear. They run away from her quickly, moving in zig zags to avoid most of the flying weapons. They see a patch of grass ahead and hide in it, though Undyne isn't far behind. She goes into the grass and picks up the first thing remotely the same shape as Frisk. The monster kid probably hasn't seen her this close up in his life. It may have just made their day. Undyne puts him down and stomps away. Sure enough, the kid is thrilled, telling Frisk how unlucky they are that they weren't standing where the kid was.

Frisk continues, past some crystalized cheese, past Sans standing with a telescope (at Flowey's insistence), past a box and Nice Cream vendor. Past a strange blob-like monster wondering what a star is and if it can be eaten or killed. They take a turn North, and a small bird sits across the way.

I think I find the problem in the world's laws... I fix it and... everything resets to the last save. ...Fantastic.

Frisk and Flowey look around themselves. "You didn't reload just now, didya Frisk?"

 ***No. Yes.**

"Weird..."

They go back to the room with the bird, though this time it's on the wrong side of the water. I suppose what I fixed didn't need to be fixed at all... though at least I managed to get through the cave a bit quicker. It takes them across the narrow stream of water while triumphant and soaring music fills the room. Frisk moves on, past the few homes on this side of waterfall.

After a quick stop at the turtle shop and traversing paths of glowing mushrooms and crystals, Frisk reaches a completely dark room. They go forward blindly until they find an echo flower. "Maybe it knows how to turn on the lights?" Flowey suggests. It only has two words to say though: 'Behind you.'

Frisk turns around to find Undyne approaching them. "Seven," she says, taking a few steps forward. "Seven human souls. With the power of seven souls our king... King Asgore Dreemurr will break through the barrier... and set us all free." She takes few more steps forward. "He will become a god, he will take back the surface from humanity and make them suffer as we have suffered through the ages." She stares Frisk down with icy coldness. "Understand, human? This is your only chance to redeem yourself." She summons her spear and charges forward.

The monster kid drops in... somehow. "Undyne, I'll help you fight. ...Oh, hey dudes what's up?" Undyne's sigh of frustration can be heard under her helmet as she picks the kid up and carries him off. "You won't tell my parents about this will ya, Undyne?"

Frisk takes the opportunity to get a quick head start away from Undyne. They go North, where a new path is illuminated. There's a few more flowers in the next area, recounting the wishes of two monsters who want to see the surface. Flowey frowns a little. "You know, I've seen the outside world before... just once." Frisk stops to listen to him. "It was... right after Chara died, actually. they had told me, just before that... they wanted to go back to the surface. But... after they passed away... between the two of us, we were able to cross. I wanted to lay them to rest there. And I have to admit... the surface and sky were beautiful. Not like anything I've ever seen. So I would have laid them to rest there... but..." he trails off. "...Heh, never mind. ...It's just depressing. Let's get out of here, Frisk." Frisk goes past the flowers to a large bridge.

Just before they manage to get completely across it, a voice echoes out. "Yo!" The kid is back again, and goes towards them. "Yo, I know I'm not supposed to be here but... I have to ask, you're uh... uh... you're... human, right? Haha."

"Gee, this guy deserves a prize for his observational skills," Flowey mutters.

"No, I knew it! Really!" the kid is quiet for a moment. "Well, now I do anyway. Undyne told me, and she said to stay away. So, like, um... I guess that makes us enemies. Or... something. But I stink at that. Yo, say something mean so I can be your enemy.

 **Say nothing. *You're too stripe-y.**

"...No, you're too stripe-y. ...Heh, okay no, that doesn't work. Well... sorry. Guess I'll go home now." He starts to backtrack when he trips, barely clinging to the edge. "Y..Yo, w- w- wait... I tripped!" The sound of steel boots on the hard floor echoes through the air as Undyne approaches.

"Oh no..." Flowey says, but Frisk goes to pull the monster kid up before he can even advise against it.

Undyne approaches them slowly. "No,' the monster kid says quickly. "Y- yo... If you want to get to my friend, you... you'll have to go through me!" Undyne stops, then slowly steps back away from them. "Phew," the kid says. "Yo, you really saved me back there. Guess... being friends is better than being enemies. I should get home though, my parents must be worried. Later, dude," they say as they run off.

"Don't trip again," Flowey calls after them. "We need to get going before that Knight lady gets back."

They don't get far, however. Atop a high peak, Undyne stands, waiting for them. "Seven," she says dramatically. "Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god." She looks at them standing below. "Six... is how many we have so far. Do you understand? With your seventh soul this world will be transformed. First however," she sighs. "As is... customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of... our.. people... No. You know what? Screw this!" she shouts. "I don't need to tell that story, you're about to die!" She pulls her helmet off and shakes her long red ponytail out. "You're standing in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams! I used to think the humans in Alphys's history books were cool, with all their giant robots and flowery swordswomen. But you? You're just a coward." She jumps down from the peak, pointing a spear at Frisk. "Hiding behind a kid so you can get away again! And you whole goody-two-shoes 'Ooh I hug random strangers' shtick! You know what would be more valuable to us all? Your soul!"

She attacks, swiping at Frisk's soul and turning it green. "Here," she says tossing Frisk a spear. "It's time you face your problems head on! And while you're green you wont be able to run away any more!"

It's an intense few rounds of blocking before Undyne lets her guard up enough for Frisk to escape. They take off as quickly as they can, running into the mouth of a cave. "She's going to catch up!" Flowey says. And she is catching up to them, quite quickly in fact. Their health has already gotten quite low, as they were taken completely off guard by Undyne's unusual battle style. She's nearly upon them. The wind is howling, the music is blaring, the tension is mounting...

Wait a minute…

I stop watching their encounter with Undyne. I expect them to die a few times anyway. Undyne isn't a pushover like Papyrus or Toriel. There are more important matters to attend to. I think… I just may have found the issue with the laws. I fix what looks to be a mistake.

The world seems to hiccup for a moment. Undyne trips and falls. Frisk stops running, going instead to check on her. "What are you doing!?" Flowey asks. "This is your chance, run!" Frisk ignores him, approaching Undyne and checking her.

Undyne hops up. "A tremor? No matter! Human, we must continue our fight!" And Frisk is thrown into melee once again. They opt to do do nothing while Undyne prepares her attack. "Are you ready for this? My ultimate attack! Hundreds of monsters' hopes and dreams go into this rush of spears!" Frisk defends the both of them against only a few spears however, before the world shudders again and the spears clatter to the ground. Undyne is dumbstruck for a moment. "These aren't favorable conditions, but I'll still-" She's cut short. The battle flickers and then ends entirely. Frisk looks around in confusion as the world around them distorts. The sign above them, welcoming them to Hotland began to start and stop in a choppy motion. Then it reverses complely. The lighting around them shifts, back to as it was in Snowdin, then back to the ruins, then back to what I know it to look like all the way in Hotland.

Then it all comes crashing down, going completely black.

It takes a moment for anyone to react to what just happened. "What? What sort of trick is this?" Undyne demands.

"We didn't do that!" Flowey says. "Why's it so dark…" he asks fearfully.

Something in the darkness seems to hear. I can hear it rise before speaking to them in garbled tones. Through the dark, broken room, an incomprehensible voice rings out.

" _Who... Are you."_

* * *

AN: And unfortunately I can't use any wingdings or put in the gif I made for this chapter. Oh well. Can't get wingdings to work on the other site anyway so I guess that's no big loss, but you guys did miss out on a gif of shaky wingdings I spent five minutes on. Sorry about that.


	8. The Man Who Speaks In Hands

Undyne and Frisk both slowly begin to move away from the voice. Its source is near impossible to see in the darkness. Undyne readies a spear, hands shaking. The voice echoes out again though none of them are able to understand. It's only two words this time, but those two words have even Undyne horrified. She throws the spear into the darkness, but it misses its mark. The same voice echoes back to them, the same utterance, the same two words, again and again and again… Each time growing louder and deeper and more distorted as Undyne readies yet another spear and Frisk tries frantically to pull her away from the source of that awful sound.

I tear my eyes away from them just long enough to decode what this _thing_ is saying to them, what words it is now bellowing through the darkness, what words they don't entirely understand, but can sense just enough of, to fill them all with unbridled terror.

" _Bad. Idea_."

Frisk pulls on Undyne's spear. While she normally would have fought back, she can't tell at all where this thing is. She does what is possibly the only even _mildly_ heroic action she can in that moment.

She grabs Frisk, throws them over her shoulder, and _runs_. Frisk has a death grip on Flowey's pot as Undyne hurtles through the darkness with them. She can't know where she's trying to take them, but in that moment anywhere is better than where they are. The voice is saying new words now. They seem to be coming from everywhere, all around them as they frantically try to escape.

Undyne's armor weighs her down, her breathing can be heard, labored and heavy as she sprints away from the terrors behind her as quickly as she can. In a blinding moment the scenery of Hotland flashes around them, along with, apparently, the heat of Hotland. She stumbles, holding her chest, moments before the scenery flickers back into absolute darkness. The voice grows louder, approaching them.

"It's going to kill us… We're going to die," Flowey whimpers.

Undyne takes a shaky breath and forces herself to stand. "No, not today." She summons another spear and faces down the darkness. "You won't get past me!" she yells into the void.

There is an odd chattering sound in the inky depths. Discernible voices begin to ring out. " _Come... join the fun…"_ they say. They repeat themselves, out of sync with one another as they grow closer. The shapes grow apparent, or at least, if you could call the amorphous and terrifying beings that were now growing closer 'shapes,' they were growing apparent. They resembled nothing. Their twisted bodies didn't seem to consist of bodies at all, but rather vague approximations of disembodied heads, with none of the features where they should be, and constantly shifting around.

Undyne stands ready as a barrage of Memory Heads launch themselves at her. She bats them away from her with her spear. "Kid, get out of here," she says quickly to Frisk as another one tries to attack her.

 **Okay. *No way!**

Frisk stands their ground. Undyne glares. "I said to _go_! I'll catch up with you." She waits for Frisk to run then winces as she narrowly blocks a Memory Head. "I'm still after your soul you know, get moving now or I _will_ take it!" she threatens.

Frisk listens this time, running away from her as Undyne continues to fight off the twisted horrors. But then something odd happens. Some of them leave Undyne behind entirely, instead chasing after Frisk and Flowey. Flowey is the first to notice that more and more of them are chasing them and not Undyne. "They're catching up," he says.

"Frick," Undyne mutters, and chases after them as well, batting the occasional one away from Frisk and Flowey's path as she tries to return to them. Meanwhile, they are becoming quickly overwhelmed. Everytime some of them become close enough to start a confrontation, Frisk flees. But it's becoming apparent that this tactic will not work for much longer. They surround Frisk, some of them cutting off their path entirely as the twisted heads continuously chatter.

" _Come join the fun… come join the fun…_ "

Theyre forming a circle now, and there are far too many for Frisk to even hope of trying to fend off. They back away from some that move forward, but quickly realize they're just walking towards more. They cover their eyes.

Undyne catches up, leaping to the center of the circle of Memory Heads. She's still breathing hard. "Kid… you really are a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" She asks as she faces down the strange monsters.

The scenery suddenly flickers through several places… Snowdin, Hotland, the lab, Hotland again, Snowdin again… Undyne stands tall as she looks around, but the sudden flashes of heat and cold are obviously causing her suffering. "Theyre not there when it isn't dark!" Flowey points out. Undyne nods and grabs the two of them again.

She races through the shifting scenery, over the hot air vents of Hotland, through the wind and blizards of the Snowdin woods, skillfully getting around obstacles of the other areas in the underground, and around the Memory Heads every time they're plunged back into darkness.

Finally, the flickering scenery slows- each time, the amount of time they spend in each area growing lengthier. She looks around for any more enemies but they seem to be alone now. She slows, staggering, barely able to hold Frisk up. She drops them, only able to stay standing now by propping herself up with a spear. The distorted voice rings out, though it's distant.

"K...Keep moving," Undyne tells Frisk as they stagger away from the approaching voice.

Suddenly, they stumble out of the darkness, each of them falling forward, Undyne still holding her spear tight and clutching her chest. It's not completely light around them, but the gentle glow of mushrooms and false stars above them let them know that at least, for the time being, they are safe within the caverns. They lie still, catching their breath from the ordeal. Undyne closes her eyes, apparently recovering from the wildly fluctuating temperatures within the darkness.

"It's… gone…" she says eventually, before sitting up to look around. She sees a nearby stream of water and goes to it, cupping it in her hands and drinking deeply from it, before pouring some over herself. When she's sufficiently rehydrated, she moves back over to Frisk, who still looks like they might be in shock over what just happened. Undyne hesitates, then helps them sit up. "It looks like we're back near Waterfall," she tells them.

Flowey nods, looking up at the false stars of the cavern. "That… that was terrible"

Undyne looks sympathetic for a moment before regaining her normal composure. "Yeah well, buck up, buttercup," she tells Flowey. He makes a face halfway between a scowl and grimace. "We need to figure out what that was."

"We?" Flowey asks.

"Yeah 'we.' I don't know where you two are from but… those things. They went after you specifically. You're involved in this somehow. And as a member of the royal guard, it is my duty to put an end to anything that can threaten the safety of my people." She stands and pull's Frisk to their feet completely. "So for the time being… I will… bleh… _spare_ the two of you. But you are under arrest. And you're coming with me.

 **You** (are forced to) **join Undyne's party!**

"With you where?" Flowey asks.

"Unfortunately Hotland," Undyne says. "If anyone can help with this, it's Alphys. But first, my house… here, I know a short cut." She starts to walk there down a tunnel that Frisk and Flowey had apparently missed, and they quickly follow. The end of the tunnel leads them to an oddly fishy house. "Wait here," Undyne says as she goes in. After a few moments she exits it without her armor. "Can't stand to be in Hotland for five minutes with that stuff… Ugh, why does the lab have to be somewhere so… so…"

"Hot?" Flowey supplied. "Think that might be why it's called, oh I don't know… Hotland?"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up, marigold," she mutters as she walks from her home down to The River-person. "Hey boat dude, can you take us to Hotland?" she asks, climbing in.

The River-person nods and allows Frisk in after her before rowing them towards Hotland. They began to quietly hum to themselves for a few minutes before speaking to them. "Hm hm hmmm… You've seen him, haven't you?" The River-person asks. "You've seen the man...The Man Who Speaks In Hands… he knows you now. You best _beware_."

* * *

AN: I read a theory somewhere that the Memory heads aren't actually amalgamates since they don't contain any obvious parts from any known monsters, and their act command to defeat them is pretty unique too, and it kind of just stuck in my head. They kind of remind me of giygas though.


	9. The True Lab

The River-Person let them off the boat at Hotland without another word. Frisk looks at Undyne uncertainly. "Uh… Yeah they're… Unique," Undyne says. "Ugh, it's freaking hot… Let's just get this over with." She walks north then east to Alphys lab with Frisk and Flowey.

It's dark when they enter. Frisk reflexively holds the flower pot tighter. "It's okay, Frisk," Flowey tells them. "The lights are just off, nothing's going to hurt you." But Frisk still was worried.

Undyne looks a little nervous as well. She leads them ahead. "Alphys?" She calls out. "Hey, Alphys?" They all look around the darkened lab until the lights flick on.

A short, yellow, bespectacled, reptilian monster in a lab coat stares at them. "U- Undyne!? Ah, oh no… You didn't say you were dropping by! This place is a mess… I haven't showered… I-"

"Alph, I just got through half of Hotland in full armor, you're fine," Undyne says, crashing in a chair and putting her feet up on Alphy's desk. Frisk sets Flowey's pot on the other side of the desk.

"Y…You did that just to see me?" Alphys asks, looking embarrassed and tapping her fingers together nervously.

"Uh… Sure. Yeah. Also I need you to do your nerd stuff," Undyne says.

"S- science, you mean?"

"Yeah, nerd stuff," Undyne nods.

Alphys notices Frisk. "Uh… Um… H- Hiya…" Frisk isn't responding to her, instead looking at the large screen in the room centered on their face. "Oh, th... that, that's nothing really! Ha..." Alphys looks highly embarrassed, rushing over to turn the monitor off. "I was uh... just... watching y- your little journey is all. It's b- b- been very interesting!" She smiles uncertainly though it flattens when Frisk doesn't respond. "I- Is that... uh... weird?"

Undyne rolls her eyes. "Hey don't worry about what the kid thinks, I need you to do the science on them, okay Alphys?"

"Wait, what?" Alphys asks. "On them? How?"

"I don't know," Undyne replies. "Do I look like a nerd?"

"N…No?" Alphys says uncertainly. "I just don't get what you want for me to uh… do. Can you explain why you uh… want me to 'do science' on them?" She drops to a mumble, "I mean just a little clarification might help..."

Undyne takes a deep breath and starts explaining what happened. Alphys's eyes gradually grow wider, and she covers her mouth in shock towards the end. "And that's about it," Undyne finishes. "Weird darkness stuff, the kid's involved… uh… yep."

"Undyne, are you okay!?" Alphys asks worriedly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah, I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me. But it's uh… sweet of you… that you did… heh." Undyne looks down and smiles.

"Is she… blushing?" Flowey whispers.

Alphys looks over at the sound. Her eyes widen as she recognizes Flowey. "Y- You!" she stammers.

"…Me?" Flowey asks.

Undyne shrugs. "Don't worry about the dahlia, he's just the kid's vaguely annoying pet."

"Pet!?" Flowey asks angrily. Alphys continues to back away, shaking her head.

"Hey," Undyne says worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Th…the flower from the determination experiments… it escaped but… it's that flower."

Flowey looks puzzled. "Determination…experiments?"

Undyne looks between Alphys and Flowey. "Hold up… is he like… something you made or… something? What experiments are you talking about?"

Alphys looks down, ashamed. "I…"

"You what?" Flowey demands.

"It… was just an attempt to see what happened when… when something neither human nor monster was given determination." She quietly explained her experiments. Flowey stared with dawning realization.

"You…" he says quietly. "You're the one who made me like this." She looks up, then nods. "You made me like this!" Flowey said, furiously.

 **Flowey calm down. *You didn't know?**

"No…" Flowey looks down, anger still in his eyes. "I just… I woke up near my home… I couldn't feel my body. I called out for help but…" He looks heartbroken for a moment before his features shift back to fury. "I can't believe this… you're why I am this way? Some… lizard scientist in Hotland is why I don't have a soul anymore?"

Alphys looks a little afraid. "I… I didn't know the flower would be sentient, let alone… wait…" She pauses. "What do you mean 'anymore'? Flowers d- don't have souls to begin with."

Flowey looks away from her angrily. "Forget it. Just forget it."

Alphys is quiet for a moment. "Well uh… those… things you saw, they sound kind of like something that shows up in the lab basement sometimes.

"Really?" Undyne asks. "Take us to the basement."

"What? No I can't do that," Alphys protests, shaking her head.

"Is it through here?" Undyne asks, going through what was presumably a bathroom.

"No!" Alphys yells. "I mean… Yes! It is through there but please don't go!" She chases after Undyne. Frisk follows quickly with Flowey who is uncharacteristically silent and blank faced. Undyne is already in the elevator pushing buttons. Alphys runs in, and the second Frisk steps through the doors close. "...Oh no," Alphys whispers.

There is a crash. "OHHHHH YES!" is the muffled reply elsewhere in the lab. "…HELLO? ALPHYS? …WASN'T THAT MY CUE? HELLOOOO?"

The elevator begins to descend and Alphys is pacing and fretting over the situation. "Undyne, this is a bad idea, a really really bad… idea…" She sighs and looks away.

"Why?" Undyne asks.

"It's just that… I'm not… who you think I am, I've done things you don't know about. …My greatest failures are in here."

"Failures?" Undyne asks. Alphys sighs quietly as the elevator stops and opens. Everyone steps off of it. "Before we go anywhere… I have a lot to tell you."

* * *

Undyne is quiet once Alphys finishes speaking. "I… see," she finally replies. "Let's just find what we need and get out." Her short response leaves Alphys looking even more upset.

Flowey finally speaks again. "She said there are reports about… me? I want to see them."

"I just fed the Amalgamates… they should be docile. It's probably safe for you to look around. I think they're mainly in the north hall," Alphys says flatly.

"Yeah, okay. Hey Frisk, can we go there?"

 ***Yes. No.**

"Thanks Frisk." They walk away from Undyne and Alphys, venturing into the north hall. "I… I can't believe I'm from here… well… not from here originally but as I am now." He looks around. I don't like this place." It wasn't surprising. The halls of the true lab were cold, dim, and lonely. On their way there an Amalgamate had spotted them, staring Flowey down while standing perfectly still until they passed by. A ominous feeling hangs over the two as they look through reports. As they read them, Frisk squeezes the flowerpot more closely to themselves.

"Heh," Flowey laughs humorlessly. "A creature neither human nor monster with no soul… My parents must've scattered my dust over the very flower Alphys experimented on. …What luck." Frisk looks at him.

 **This is weird. *I think you act like you have a soul.**

"You never saw me at my worst, Frisk," Flowey says darkly. "Well… you did, but you don't remember. And I'm glad you don't… I'm really glad you don't. I was a terrible person. I was a terrible, terrible person over and over again. I'm still that way deep down, I'm sure." His voice is shaky.

 **Yes, you are. *No, you aren't.**

He shakes his head. "I killed you, you know. I killed you so many times. And I didn't even care, because I couldn't feel anything at all and I knew you'd be back." He laughs, though it sounds much more like a sob. "And this is why… I never knew, I just… woke up one day and thought I… " he trails off, looking uncertain. "I don't know what I thought… but I had new power, and I used it in the worst way I possibly could have. What do you think of that?"

 **Say nothing. *You don't act like that now though.**

"Well, no," Flowey admits. "It's because of you… You showed me kindness and forgiveness… and the last time we fought, I felt… a lot of people's love for you. And maybe that changed me… I don't know. But there's no forgiving what I did." Frisk is silent but hugs him. "I guess this explains a lot but… it doesn't really matter, I was doomed to be evil from the start."

 ***But you're my friend. Say nothing.**

"…Heh… you're… such an idiot," Flowey says. "No offense. But why be friends with someone as heartless as me?" Flowey doesn't give Frisk a chance to answer. "Let's just see if Alphys and Undyne found anything." Frisk takes him to them, Flowey doesn't speak at all on the way there, looking pensively at his roots.

When they find them, the two of them are looking over photographs of the Memory Heads. "Those things are definitely the same as the ones that chased us," Undyne says.

"Really?" Alphys asks. Undyne nods. "Those are… well I call them Freaky-Face-f- uh…facey face, uh…. Okay I don't call them anything since no one else knows about them. But they're sort of... different from the other Amalgamates. Sometimes they just... disappear. I don't know where they go."

Frisk looks down at Flowey who's still being silent and pensive. They pat his petals lightly. He looks up and sighs. "I'm alright, Frisk. Don't worry. …Hey Alphys, do all these Amalgamates kinda… look like me?"

"Sometimes," she admits. "They tend to shape-shift a little."

"Hm…" Flowey says quietly. "One of them stared at me a long time… like it… recognized me?"

Alphys nods and keeps looking around the lab. "Maybe the royal scientist before me wrote something about these face things."

"Yeah, probably," Undyne agrees. "Hey Alphys, who was the royal scientist before you anyway?"

"Uh… I'm not sure actually," she admits. "No, I must've worked under him… …uh… hm… I don't remember, weird." She keeps walking through.

After much searching, all they find is a file. "It's just about appointing me, forgot I put it down here," Alphys says. Frisk takes it, taking a look at it. Flowey reads it too. "It's really nothing," Alphys says. "Just official junk appointing me to be the royal scientist."

"'By Royal decree, I, King Asgore Dreemurr, appoint Alphys to replace [redacted] following [redacted]'s incident with the core.' But… who's this redacted guy?" Flowey asks.

"I… don't recall. Still… …That should be something I r- remember, shouldn't it?" Alphys asks.

In the end they don't find anything else of interest. "There's nothing here I guess…" Alphys says. "I… I'm sorry Undyne."

"It's okay," Undyne says, holing her arms as she looks around the True Lab in silence. "We… should go then." Everyone else seems to agree, and they go back to the elevator and stand in silence as it rises. "Alphys… you've been through a lot, huh?" Undyne eventually says. Alphys nods, looking ashamed that Undyne is seeing her in this light. "…Why didn't you tell me?"

Alphys forces herself to meet Undyne's gaze, but she doesn't look mad at her. Instead she looks concerned. "I… I thought you… wouldn't think very highly of me… and wouldn't want to… be my friend," Alphys admits.

"Well that's just dumb," Undyne says.

"I… I know," Alphys says. "I'd… understand if you don't want to… hang out and….. stuff. I mean all this... I just messed it all up, I-"

"Alphys, I still like you," Undyne says. Alphys looks up in surprise. "I just mean it's dumb that you wouldn't think I'd want to know that you've been hurting this whole time."

"Wait… what?" Alphys asks.

"You're my friend," Undyne says. "And… I want you to… you know, be okay…. so if something's wrong don't worry about me thinking less of you. I already know that you're awesome. And I… I don't want you bundling up all your troubles if telling me will help."

"Oh, Undyne," Alphys says, rubbing her eyes.

Undyne smiles reassuringly at her and squeezes her hand. "Still... all these monsters being locked up... isn't there any other way?"

Alphys looks down a little. "You're probably right... I should t- talk to their families. Maybe it's time for them to go home..."

Flowey looks at them quietly for a moment, then whispers to Frisk. "You know, its… weird. I… I don't think I can be mad at her. She didn't mean for what happened to me to… you know… happen. And I guess if she hadn't done it, a lot wouldn't have ever happened, but…" He frowns. "Actually I dunno what I'm trying to say."

 **I know. *It's okay**.

Flowey nods a little. "Thanks… Frisk. I guess… you're one good thing to happen to me. I'm glad we met." Frisk, for once, smiles a little at his words, and stays smiling the whole way back up the elevator.

It opens with a ding when they reach the top. Everyone steps out. There's now a hole nearby the bathroom door. "S- sorry all that was just a waste of time, everyone," Alphys says, going back into the middle of her lab. "I feel like some information must have been there but uh... Guess... I was wrong. Maybe we won't ever know what those things were…"

"oh i doubt that," a voice says. Everyone turns towards the entrance, where Sans leans against the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Flowey asks.

"hey," Sans shrugs. "i told you guys i'd find you when i found something that could help. well, i found something you should see. and from what i understand, you've found a trace of something i lost a long time ago." He walks to them, smile not entirely reaching his eye sockets. "so… i heard from a certain river-person that you've met the old royal scientist. and now i've got just one question." He pauses, looking over all of them. "mind telling me how my brother's doing?"


	10. Sans's Greatest Secret

Undyne squints at Sans as his question hangs open in the air. "What do you mean, how's your brother? Papyrus, you mean? How am I supposed to know, he should be back at Snowdin."

"he's waiting at your house actually. i figured we needed the whole gang together to discuss this," Sans replies. "no, the brother I'm talking about is the guy you apparently ran into today."

"We… didn't…" Flowey starts.

Sans brushes him off. "the old royal scientist, where is he? where's w.d.?"

"Look, none of us know who that is," Undyne says.

Sans sighs. "i thought this might happen. well come on, i'll explain at undyne's house."

Undyne blinks. "Don't invite yourself to my house," she orders.

"ok, let's hurry and get there," Sans says impatiently.

"No, I just said not to… oh forget it!" Undyne says. "But who's this 'W.D.' guy?"

"w.d. gaster, of course," Sans says. "anyway since you all are being slow, i'll just meet you there." He steps out the door.

"Oh no you won't you little…" Undyne exits the lab after him but stops. Frisk goes out to see what's wrong. "Where'd he go? He was just here," Undyne says with annoyance.

"So, we're going to your house then?" Alphys asks, almost cheerfully.

"I guess," Undyne says. "Well back in the boat we go."

A boatride and short trek through East Waterfall later, the group arrives at the extremely fishy house. Papyrus stands outside. "GOOD, YOU ALL MADE IT!" he says excitedly.

"Yeah, so what's up with your brother?" Undyne asks him. "He's being really freaking strange."

"I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT HE TOLD ME TO STAND HERE."

Undyne sighs. "Why's he so weird? No offence." She unlocks her door to Sans, seated at the kitchen table. "AH! …How did you get in here!?" she demands.

"shortcut."

Undyne was at a loss."But… but… oh forget it. You're lucky you're a guest or I'd kick your butt." She turns to the others. "Everyone sit. No one touch my fridge. No one touch my sword. No nerds allowed in my room."

"I've been in there though," Alphys points out.

"…Some nerds are allowed in my room," Undyne amends. As everyone sits, Frisk watches Undyne take a sickly yellow soda from the fridge and place it in front of Alphys.

"Ooh, my favorite," Alphys says.

Undyne smiles widely from behind her where she can't see. "Is it? Cool," she says.

Sans straightens up a little. "well if everyone's ready we can get to the topic at hand, how to help w.d. gaster."

"But who is Gaster?" Undyne asks.

"gaster is, or was, or was once but at the same time never was… my older brother." Everyone is silent for a moment while this sinks in. Papyrus probably looks the most surprised at this revelation.

"Wait, you're saying your older brother was that terrifying... thing that chased us in the dark world?" Flowey asks skeptically.

"w.d. isn't terrifying, he's a physicist," Sans objects.

"TRULY THE MOST SINISTER OF ALL SCIENTISTS," Papyrus says.

Sans rolls his eyes. "yeah well i worked with him."

"Wait," Alphys says. "So that means… you're a physicist too?"

"TRULY THE MOST SINISTER OF ALL… BROTHERS?" Papyrus shakes his head. "AND SANS, WE DON'T HAVE ANOTHER BROTHER."

"no," Sans says quietly, "not any more. and because of what happened, we never did."

"I'm so lost right now," Undyne mutters, rubbing her head.

"You're uh… not the only one," Alphys admits before sipping her soda.

Sans laughs and looks at her. "hey alphys, who was the royal scientist before you?"

"I uh… don't know," she admits, her cheeks going a little red with embarrassment.

"isn't that something you should know?" Sans asks.

"Yes," Alphys says, sounding bothered by it still. "And I don't know why I don't know, and I didn't even know that I didn't know until today."

Sans looks thoughtful. "sounds about right…" He turns to the others. "now let me ask you all, except the kid of course... how long have you had electric stoves? computers? cell phones? tv? internet?"

"Uh… always," Undyne says. "Why would you ask that?"

"because it isn't true," Sans says. "ms. royal scientist, how long has the core existed?"

Alphys blinks, confused. "The… The Core has always been there. It's converted the geothermal energy in Hotland to magical energy for as long as anyone can remember."

Sans frowns. "no. it hasn't. everything that it powers has only been in wide use since a decade and a half or so… or… that would have been the case if the time line hadn't been altered. w.d. invented and built the core. he did. it isn't ancient technology or any of what people theorize it is now. it was my brother's brilliant mind. remember that."

"Psh," Undyne rolls her eye. "This is a bunch of water sausage."

"well if that's what lets you sleep at night," Sans says, shrugging. "the truth is that this world lost my brother and _forgot_ him."

"How?" Flowey asks. "That isn't exactly something that everyone in the whole world would forget except for you, so how on earth would no one know that?"

"because he was ripped from existence when he fell into the core," Sans says.

Alphys eyes widen. "My appointment papers did mention an incident with the core!"

"Please tell me you don't believe this nut job," Undyne says.

"MY BROTHER IS NOT A NUT JOB, HE JUST… ISN'T MAKING…ANY SENSE… AT ALL RIGHT NOW. THAT'S ALL." Papyrus says.

Undyne's gills flare slightly. "Yeah well… if any of this is true, why the heck would he remember any of it?" Everyone turns to look at Sans who smiles mysteriously at them. "Well?" Undyne asks.

Sans laughs. "it's… almost funny, actually. well, not haha funny. or even smiling funny. it's not funny at all really, but i remember because i was right there. the blast that happened when he fell knocked me back and everything… actually it knocked me right through another time line and merged me with the sans of this one. it's lucky that i don't have skin, or the entire left side of my face would be scarred pretty badly from that blast. even still, i had to wear an eyepatch for weeks. not a good look for me, no offence undyne."

"SANS, I HIT YOU WITH A SNOW BALL. THAT'S WHY YOU HAD TO WEAR AN EYE PATCH."

Sans shakes his head. "in this timeline, yeah. in the original… or… my original timeline, or part of my original timeline anyway, no."

"You can't prove any of this," Undyne says. "You can't even prove there are multiple timelines." Sans silently hands her a photo. "…What… is this? Why are we all in here with the king?"

"it's from the last timeline. i found it," Sans says. The others lean over Undyne's shoulders to look. Sure enough, everyone aside from Flowey is there. "happens sometimes. objects fall through. sometimes i'll see glimpses of other timelines too." His left eye emits a soft blue glow. "not really enough to always know exactly what'll happen, but it helps."

Undyne shakes her head. "Well… this photo at least seems real but it all sounds-"

"what? fishy?" Sans asks with a wink. Undyne clenches her fists. "if you don't believe me about w.d. i don't care, i'm telling the truth. and i don't need your belief or help. he's still around somehow and i am going to get him back."

"HOW?" Papyrus asks.

Frisk looks at Sans, as does Flowey. Sans is silent for a while, then shrugs with a smile. "no idea."

"AH! BROTHER, YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT WITHOUT HAVING A PLAN! WAS THIS OTHER TIMELINE YOU AS LAZY?"

"no, not really."

"WELL WHY ARE YOU NOW!?"

Sans casually puts his hands in his pockets. "dunno, maybe i'm trying to match how this timeline's sans was perceived to be? maybe this timeline's effect on me is making me more like him too? and its hard to care about things when i know all it takes is one jerk with the right power to rip absolutely everything away so we have to start from scratch without even knowing it and could all potentially be stuck in a loop of repeating the same daily tasks ad infinitum." Everyone stares at him. Sans keeps up a serious visage for a moment then cracks a cheesy grin. "heh… just kidding, yeah i was always lazy, definitely."

"…This is hurting my head, can we just have dinner soon?" Undyne asks.

"I WILL MAKE THE SPAGHETTI!"

"Not without me!" Undyne says, shoving him aside.

"NO, IT IS MY SPECIALTY."

"Yeah that I taught you!"

"Oh uh… guys careful," Alphys says as she fiddles with the empty bottle a bit worriedly.

Sans sighs. "doesn't really take them long to stop being serious, does it? and people say i'm too much of a clown." He shakes his head and steps outside. Just before he shuts the door, he beckons Frisk to come along. Flowey and Frisk exchange a look before Frisk grabs his flowerpot and follows after him. Sans is stretching his arms. "ah, what a load off my scapulas. don't think i can take all that madness in there after it all though, something tells me things are going to get… heated." He winks and smiles. Frisk shakes their head. "oh come on, that was hilarious."

"Was all that… true?" Flowey asks.

"yeah, things are definitely going to get heated in there, i've seen how undyne cooks," Sans jokes. "heh, sorry. but yeah. if not it'd be one heck of a story to make up."

Flowey nods, thinking. "Makes sense now… you being so… weird compared to everyone else I mean."

"ouch."

"You know what I mean, with the weird knowing things and the being everywhere… can you teleport? I seriously need to know."

"i can't tell you all my secrets, heh…"

Flowey frowns. "How are you so calm about this?"

"well, you see, i'm a skeleton. nothing gets under my skin." He winks.

 **Haha. *Terrible.**

"geez, tough crowd," Sans mutters before looking at Flowey. "so guess you think you have me all figured out now, huh?" He smirks, and it seems obvious that he doesn't think Flowey or Frisk have him quite figured out at all.

"Mostly," Flowey admits. "I can understand where you're coming from anyway… the friend I mentioned earlier… truth was, they were much more like a sibling to me. We were raised together. My parents treated them the same as me, so even if we weren't siblings by blood like you and W.D. I can sort of… sympathize. Losing them was the hardest thing I've ever been through. I mean… I still don't think I'm even close to being over it. So… I can understand how hard it is for you to let go, too."

Sans stops smirking and looks away a little. "a soulless sunflower sympathizing with me... what has my life come to?" Flowey looks away, trying to hide his hurt over the comment about his soul, though Frisk seems to notice, hugging his pot a little. It probably just is a little too soon after what he found in the lab. "you know i kind of meant that you have all my spookiness and uncanny perception figured out," Sans eventually continues, "not how things are with my brother. …but you're right. letting go isn't easy."

"And I guess I get it now," Flowey says. "Why you pretend to think Papyrus is so cool, I mean. It's because he's your only family left."

"no," Sans replies.

"…No?" Flowey asks uncertainly.

"no," he says again firmly. "i don't pretend to think papyrus is cool. i do think he's cool. he IS cool. in fact… he might be the coolest person that i know. at least in this timeline anyway." Flowey raises an eyebrow and Sans smiles weakly. "that confuses you? how about you, frisk, you're friends with papyrus."

 ***He might not be the "coolest" though. Yeah he's cool.**

"heh," Sans laughs. He looks away from them and frowns a little to himself. "well i'm serious, i really do think papyrus is cool. he has a kind, gentle soul at heart. being positive about things comes easily to him, or at least he makes it look like it comes easy to him. he cares a lot. and he keeps those qualities even when the world around him isn't quite as kind or gentle or caring towards him. and… more than that…" Sans paces while he speaks but smiles a little at his own words. "papyrus keeps believing in himself. he doesn't let the world get him down. he still has dreams and ambitions. high ones too. he genuinely believes that one day he will be the most famous member of the royal guard. …i can't even get myself to care about any of my jobs. monsters across the underworld get through their lives, believing in king asgore or just the idea that someday we'll all be free and we'll see the sun someday. i can't believe in any of that. but… amazingly, the one thing that i can believe in… is him."

Sans looks down sadly. "i guess you could say, deep down… i wish i was papyrus. i wish i could be like him. confident… hopeful… caring… i can't find it in myself to be any of that anymore." He glances back at them with a serious look in his eyes. "so what exactly isn't cool about my brother?"

Flowey was a little speechless. "I… guess I never thought about it like that."

Sans laughs a little. "heh… y'know, there are plenty of powerful people in the world… plenty of charismatic people, wealthy people, dangerous people, but… people like papyrus? they're more rare than you would believe. when you find one, you'd better think they're cool while you can."

"Maybe you have a point," Flowey admits.

"of course i do. but there is one thing that's not cool, and that's his cooking. i'll go rescue dinner now if you don't mind." With that, Sans saunters off into Undyne's house, leaving Flowey and Frisk to think over what he said.

* * *

I nearly walk away from the scenario playing out before me when I hear a very familiar, distorted voice. I feel the presence that calls to mind the things that Frisk, Flowey, and Undyne found in the darkness. I look and see the symbols that accompany it. Neither Frisk nor Flowey notice. Does that mean… it's directed… to me? It takes me a while to decipher the unfamiliar symbols.

" _Fallen Child… are you the one who reached out to me… and found me in the darkness?_ " it says.

I have to think about this carefully… What I am dealing with now is so far beyond the scope of any timeline I've shaped before. Everything has been affected. Everything is out of order. A single wrench in the machine that is this world has caused it all to come crashing down around me… could this be my chance to put myself back in control of it?

"Yes," I eventually reply.

" _Fallen Child… Does this mean… You intend… To right the wrongs in the foundations of this universe?_ " the voice continues.

I take a deep breath once I decipher it. It's quite possible that if I don't play my cards right, I might lose control of this world completely… but is that really any worse than the situation is now? Something deep inside me tells me that if I pull this off, and I do believe that's possible, the control that I had, the power that I had… will be nothing in comparison to what I'll have in due time. I swallow… and I nod my head.

"Yes." My answer seems to ring with utter finality. My path is set.

The presence all around seems to exude the feeling of dutiful understanding. It dissipates away before long, but it is clear a pact has been made between us. It's time for the real work to begin.

* * *

AN: halfway through the fic everyone. Yay.


	11. Almost Completely Alone

Frisk didn't think they had ever tasted spaghetti quite like this. And they found that that wasn't necessarily a good thing. They look at Sans who simply shrugs back as though to say "sorry, kid, i tried." Flowey watches them all, looking rather happy with his misfortune of being a plant for once.

"DO YOU LIKE IT, HUMAN?" Papyrus asks.

With a completely straight face, Frisk holds a thumb up weakly.

"EXCELLENT. THE HUMAN LOVES MY OBVIOUSLY SUPERIOR CUISINE."

When he isn't looking, Frisk puts the remainder of their meal onto Sans's plate. Undyne looks approving. Sans is… less so.

By that time it seems late. Though of course, in the darkness of Waterfall, it isn't always easy to tell. Everyone sits together, trying to come up with at least a little of a plan. While some suggestions- such as punching a hole through the space time continuum- are less helpful than others, they eventually come up with the idea to have Alphys and Sans try to find irregularities in time while Frisk and Undyne go to see if there's anything unusual about the spot where they first fell through to the dark area.

"HOW CAN I ASSIST?" Papyrus asks.

"hm… go with undyne and the kid for now i guess… i can call if we need you to do anything else."

"You all forgot about me," Flowey says, a bit grumpily.

"Oh forbid we don't give the tulip something specific," Undyne says.

"hey, i'm sure alphys's lab would look nicer with a peony in the window."

Flowey's face shifts to a much more menacing expression. "WOULD YOU PEOPLE PICK A FLOWER AND STICK TO IT?!" he demands. After a moment he puts his normal face back on. "Sigh, forget it, I'm staying with Frisk."

"heh, you know we're just kidding with ya," Sans says.

"Yeah," Undyne agrees. "Mostly, anyway."

Frisk shoots them all a look, then yawns tiredly.

"guess we'll start in the morning. there an inn here?" Sans asks.

"Nah, theres not enough people going through for one to turn a profit," Undyne says. "Sigh… I'll move a sofa in here. And uh…"

"papyrus can have it, i'll sleep on the floor," Sans says.

"What about the kid?" Undyne says.

 **… *Zzz…**

Frisk was fast asleep with their head pillowed by their elbow. Undyne looks at them. "Great… they can't sleep at the table, they'll hurt their neck."

"they'll be okay," Sans says.

"Whatever. I'm moving that sofa into here." She leaves and does just that, carrying it on one shoulder.

"IT'S LIKE THE BIGGEST SLEEPOVER EVER," Papyrus says.

"Kinda. Hey Alphys, do you want to finish that anime we were watching?"

"Oh, sure!" she says happily.

"YOU TWO ARE SO WEIRD."

"Hey, it's historical, maybe if you watched some you'd know some stuff," Undyne says, going back to her room with Alphys.

"OH, CAN I WATCH WITH YOU THEN?"

"No," she says and shuts the door.

"those two really just need to date already," Sans says.

"DATE? DO YOU THINK THEY HAVE A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL DATING RULEBOOK? I DON'T THINK WATERFALL OR HOTLAND HAVE A LIBRARY!"

"i'm sure they'll be fine," Sans says, stretching. "anyway, i'm going outside. later."

* * *

Frisk is dreaming. It's a hazy sort of nightmare and they toss and turn, still seated at the table. A child falling into a cavernous maw in the mountain. A paw reaching out to them. Vague memories of a villiage that fills them with unease. Buttercups… Wake up. You have to wake up.

It shifts, no longer dreams familiar to me. Frisk dreams of darkness. Of chattering heads. Of a tall figure, turning to face them, slowly. So slowly. They're falling away from the figure, forgetting which way is up in the pitch black.

They jump slightly. Flowey looks at them, still half asleep. "Frisk? You okay?" They shake their head and pick him up. "Hey… it's okay Frisk, you're safe." Frisk shakes their head again, going outside and taking a breath of fresh air. Sans jumps at the sound of the door, managing to startle them again.

"dang… hey, sorry kid. …kid, you alright?" Sans asks.

"They had a bad dream," Flowey tells him.

Sans looks a little sympathetic. "here, kid, you want to sit?" Frisk considers, then nods, sitting with him and leaning on the house. "you know, i gotta wonder, how many times have you done all this?" Frisk looks at him. "how many times you been here? in the underground. how many times we meet?" Sans looks thoughtful. "something tells me… this time is different from the others though." His eye glows a little. "way different. you must feel in over your head… huh?"

 ***Yeah. No.**

"thought so. well you know something kinda comforting about the time loop stuff? none of it matters. it might take a few dozen times for you to do anything, but you have that time. you'll be alright in the end. ok?" Frisk nods. Sans smiles a little. "hey kid, y'know… sleeping used to come really easy to me. in fact, i could do it with my eye sockets closed."

 **Haha. *Terrible.**

"oh, come on, that one was hilarious," Sans says. Frisk smiles a little. "ha, there, i knew you had a little sense of humor hidden away somewhere. anyway…" he closes his eyes. "you don't have to worry, kid. we've got your back." Frisk nods a little and closes their eyes. They fall asleep again, holding Flowey's flower pot and leaning against Undyne's house.

* * *

They get an early start the next day. Undyne gets a few supplies at the turtle shop and polishes her armor, just in case it's needed while Sans makes breakfast. After everyone eats they start heading out to their respective stations.

"Well I guess I should get back to the lab," Alphys says after getting ready. "Let's go, Sans."

"ok."

Undyne clenches a fist. "You'd better be nice to her or I'll kick your b-"

"ok," Sans says again, leaving.

Undyne grits her teeth. "Papyrus, I'm going to have to kill your brother."

"PLEASE DON'T."

"Then I'll have to lock him up in the capital jail or something."

"THAT'S A LITTLE MORE ACCEPTABLE."

The others start the journey to the edge of the Waterfall area. Having Undyne with them more or less guarantees Frisk's safe passage. When they arrive, they start looking over the area. I start to observe them before I sense a presence and hear a voice…

"You need to direct them. Find the gray ones. Some stand within the world now. Some stay between the spaces between seconds."

The voice fades. So we're being cryptic then? Hm… I wonder if there's some way of freezing time. That would certainly get in between seconds. I look at the laws, studying them.

Meanwhile Undyne prods at the ground around her arena with her spear. "Doesn't look like anything around here leads to that dark place."

Flowey sighs. "Guess we shouldn't've expected it to be easy, huh?" He strains to look around. Frisk kicks a rock around. "Hey Frisk don't go too far, okay?" They look over and nod.

"So are you like… their babysitter or something?" Undyne asks. Flowey gives her a look. "Hey I'm just trying to figure out what your deal is."

"We're friends, you've heard of those right?"

Undyne rolls her eyes, stabbing at a rock. "It's just weird, how's a mutant flower from Alphys's lab meet up with a human kid? …Wait wait wait… you said you had a soul! Were you a human or something?"

"What?" Flowey asks in confusion.

"Yeah, and maybe you were friends before and you disappeared and king Asgore got your soul and-"

"I was a monster, not a human."

"Ah," Undyne says. "Well I had a good guess. Who were you then? Can't imagine you always went by such a dumb name."

"There's nothing wrong with my name," Flowey says.

"Yeah… except all of it."

Flowey sighs and checks on Frisk, who's still playing around. "Well I don't really care, just so long you don't bring them to Asgore."

Undyne is a little somber as she looks at them too. "It… would be hard, I mean not because they're fast and run away a lot, it's just that… they're just a kid." She looks away quickly. "And truth is, that whole goody-two-shoes shtick I made fun of kinda… reminds me of someone."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Flowey says.

"No you don't," Undyne says. "You're nowhere near important enough to know who I'm talking about." Flowey laughs. "W-why are you laughing?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

I change part of the laws that I think will affect the way time flows in the world, and almost to my surprise… it seems to work. Papyrus had been talking to Frisk, but stops mid-sentence. Frisk is startled by the sudden silence. They pull on Papyrus's arm, to little avail. They turn around and go to Flowey, nudging his pot. When that doesn't work, they go to Undyne, tugging at her shirt. They're both frozen still. Frisk waves their arms in front of the two. No response. They frown, looking around a little, then start moving towards Hotland, presumably to see if Alphys or Sans are still moving.

But the area ahead of them doesn't load. Separated from time, and now space as well, Frisk stumbles blindly ahead and realizes that the area behind them has disappeared too.

Frisk finds themself in the dark. Looking around, they clutch their stick tightly. They are silent as they walk through the empty world. They can't afford to make noise. They fear what will find them. But even as I watch them, stumbling through the deadened world, I can't help but realize they seem less and less eager to move on their own. Experimentally, I push them to go north. They look uncertain for a moment… then turn, moving up. I move them east and west… the results are the same. They have nowhere to go, and no one to turn to.

Except me, of course.

Don't worry, Frisk. Do what I want and I'll get you out. Lets just find those gray ones first.

* * *

AN: Alright, story is officially completely posted on AO3 so I'll finish getting it posted here this week.


	12. What Has Been Lost

I can see that the world outside the dark area is starting to move once more. Looks like time has started up again, though it matters little. I'm already exactly where I need to be. Flowey, meanwhile is searching quite frantically for Frisk, flower pot abandoned as he pops out of the ground here and there. So much for his claims of not being able to keep up…

"Frisk!?" he calls out. "Frisk, where are you!?"

"HUMAN? HELLO?"

"Where'd you go, you little weenie?"

It's to no avail, I can see clearly that Frisk can't see them, can't hear them… can't see or hear anything, in fact. It isn't making searching for these gray entities any easier, but I feel like I'm getting close.

None of the three are able to find Frisk. "The Lab, maybe they went to The Lab," Flowey says.

"Maybe," Undyne replies, though she looks less than eager to go there. "I can call Alphys. Papyrus, phone. " He hands his over to her. She dials the number. "C'mon Alph pick up… Do you have your phone on silent? Ugh…"

"SO WHAT DO WE DO?" Papyrus asks.

Undyne considers. "Hey Papyrus, you got data on here?"

"NO," he replies, then thinks. "WELL, IT'S EXTRA." He frowns. "A LOOOOOTTT EXTRA."

"Oh well, gotta get on the internet."

"UNDYNE, NO!" he shouts.

"Undyne, yes," she replies.

Flowey looks frustrated with both of them. "How is this helping Frisk?"

"I'm summoning Alphys through the power of social media. How about. 'lost the kid. #oops.' And now we wait about three seconds and-" A comment on the post appears. Papyrus reads it over her shoulder.

"IT SAYS 'WHAT, REALLY?'"

"Yep. Now lets just reply 'call me.' and leave the number and…"

Right on cue she gets a call. "Hey, yeah the kid's gone, they with you? No? …crud, well… let me know if they turn up. Alright, bye." She hangs up. "Well they aren't at the lab."

"Where else could they be," Flowey wonders.

* * *

Meanwhile, I see something ahead of Frisk. Looks like… a grayscale Monster kid? There's a slight resemblance anyway. They wear the same stripes and don't appear to have arms. So now what, Gaster? What do I do with this little thing?

Wherever Gaster is, he doesn't answer. Well, I suppose I'll just have to find out. I go to them and speak with them.

"Oh good, I was getting bored of being ignored. …You're not in your world right now? Do you think anyone misses you?"

 **Yes. *No.**

"Oh… That's sad," the kid replies and stares straight ahead. He doesn't do anything else. Frisk walks around him, then talks to him again.

"Oh good, I was getting bored of being ignored. …You're not in your world right now? Do you think anyone misses you?"

 ***Yes. No.**

"You're an indecisive person. Is that why you just said they don't miss you?" Then he stares straight ahead again.

I'm fairly perplexed by this. What am I meant to do? Fight him? Keep talking to him? I try the latter a few more times, each time yielding more or less the same result. I'm not given an option to fight though, so… It isn't too clear what I'm supposed to do. I leave him behind and keep looking.

* * *

Papyrus, Flowey, and Undyne look for a little while before speaking to eachother again.

"I'm going to check the lab…" Flowey says. "They must've found something by now, and maybe we can use all those creepy cameras Alphys has to find Frisk."

"SOUNDS LIKE IT MIGHT WORK," Papyrus says.

"Good, then take me there," Flowey says. "Undyne, can you stay here in case Frisk shows up?"

"Guess so," Undyne replies. Papyrus picks Flowey up and leaves for the lab. "Good luck…"

* * *

I wander a little more with Frisk. I've been going the same direction for several minutes. I've passed by the same gray monster kid three times. I got the same dialogue, the same options, the same responses. I… might have messed up. Just a little. …Again.

Just as I start considering ways to get Frisk out of the dark area I see light ahead. It's an arrow… and just ahead of it: a message. It says 'this way to the debug rooms.' Well there doesn't seem like there's anything else here. Though before I can even decide to go there, Frisk is running to the light. Just when I thought I had a good hold of them, nyctophobia wins out. Though I suppose at this point, they have as much of an idea what they're doing as I do. I let them take over and kick back to watch them. They walk through a gray door into the area.

They're exploring the rooms, each one seems to be pieced together from various elements of the world. There's a whole room of ice, and not too far from there I recognize the air vents of Hotland. Dark caves and grass and water from around Waterfall lie not too far from a room covered in the vines that wouldn't look out of place in the ruins. In one of the rooms is a snowball. Frisk pushes it around for a while, and rather than shrinking like the snowball from earlier, it grows. It grows to a ridiculous size, in fact, before Frisk abandons it. After traversing a few rooms, Frisk comes across a bowl of candy. A small sign lies in front of it, saying 'take them all.' Frisk goes to the bowl. The message becomes 'you can't. you already did.' Frisk takes a candy from their pocket and put it back. Then they take it back out.

"The weight of your greed is too much."

Frisk tries to move but can't. I can see them growing panicked, then throwing their candy to the ground before running though a gray door to the outside. Once they get outside, the door disappears, leaving them outside of the debug area entirely with no way back, back into the darkness. They hold their arms fearfully and start walking again.

Far ahead of them is the monster kid again. I've gotten a little sick of them, and I have Frisk keep walking. They only make it a little ways over before the monster shows up again. "Hey," he says. I have Frisk keep walking. They appear, in the way, and Frisk is forced to stop. "Hey," he says again. I go around the monster. Frisk walks, uninterrupted for a while before a much larger monster, looking like an amalgamate of many, many gray monster kids towers over Frisk.

"Why would you ignore me?" it asks in a loud and distorted voice. Frisk shakily draws their toy knife as a battle begins.

* * *

Flowey and Papyrus arrive at the lab before too long. Sans looks out the door at them. "…hey bro. flower. did you guys find the kid?"

"No," Flowey says, still distressed.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Alphys says, checking her cameras before she even needs to be asked. "Hm… don't see them…" She keeps cycling through cameras for a few minutes before getting discouraged and stopping. "They… aren't anywhere I can see them."

Flowey frowns sadly, worried for Frisk when Sans jumps up, startling him. "there's a disturbance… looks like it's right near us."

"The b…basement maybe?" Alphys wonders.

"maybe," Sans says. "you two come with me." He looks at Flowey and Papyrus.

"What about Frisk?" Flowey asks.

"YEAH, I'M KIND OF WORRIED ABOUT THE LITTLE HUMAN TOO," Papyrus says.

"maybe they'll be around there or something," Sans says. "anyway come on. alphys, keep an eye on us with your cameras."

He leads them down to the basement, and it seems to be empty. "There's nothing here," Flowey says quietly. Papyrus carries him around, looking for anything that could be causing the disturbance. "Sans, this is a waste of time, we gotta find Frisk."

"we will, we will. chill," Sans says. Flowey isn't particularly comforted. They look around, eventually finding a large, gray door. "has… that always been there?"

"I don't remember it being here last time but I was kinda distracted," Flowey says.

Sans shrugs and opens it. "hello?" he calls into the dark room. Far within it, the three see eyes. Many too many of them, quickly growing larger. "oh no… run."

Papyrus does so but the Memory Heads gain on him quickly. One charges into Papyrus and he nearly falls, only just barely catching himself. Another one hits his arm and he loses his grip on the flower pot. It crashes into the floor, bouncing once and leaving a piece behind, before Flowey is launched out of it, skidding across the floor to the center of the room.

The Memory Heads surround him. Flowey grows afraid and creates a ring of bullets around himself. It keeps them back for only a moment before they move through the ring as though it wasn't even there. Sans quickly raises his hand, eye glowing brilliantly and leaving a ghostly trail whenever it moves. Several objects around the Memory Heads fly up, but they remain where they are. Sans frowns, then raises his hand again and Flowey launches up, hitting the ceiling with a soft thud.

"Ow…"

"sorry," Sans says quickly, slamming a filing cabinet into a Memory Head with little effect. "there's no way to fight these things…"

They surround Flowey, pulling him down and pooling around him. "Sans! Papyrus, Alphys… someone!" he yells out in fear. Papyrus run in, trying to knock them away, but they keep their hold of Flowey, moving around him and seeming to somehow converge around him. Where one begins and the next ends becomes hard to say. They fade away from the room, along with Flowey.

He's pulled into the darkness. His eyes are like saucers as he struggles to look around himself. "No… no…" Nearby, Frisk is still trying to fight. He spots them. "Frisk!" he shouts, struggling to get free. "Frisk, hold on!" he says quickly. But the Memory Heads are overpowering him, pulling him away. "Stop it… stop… Frisk!" He's losing sight of them. "No, no, you can't do this! Frisk hold on!" He sees Frisk fall as the monster rises, ready to strike. He knows his friend absolutely needs him, and it fills Asriel with DETERMINATION.

The Memory Heads cease to pull him, and then, slowly, they ceace to be. They're molded into a new shape, vaguely humanoid, but much more animalistic and though it's very hard to tell, almost fluffy looking, standing at about the same size as Frisk. The shape runs now, rushing to Frisk and getting between them and the attacking monster. The attack is blocked and Frisk is unharmed. They look up in surprise. The monster looks nearly as shocked, especially when a ring of bullets surrounds it. They crash into it, one by one and it is knocked back as the shape that was once Flowey moves forward. He doesn't stop attacking until it is on the ground, whimpering in a broken, garbled voice. He raises his hand and another ring of bullets appears.

Frisk wants to run, to hide, to do whatever they can to get away from the situation, but as they look at the silhouette, a memory stirs within them. I recognize it… Asriel reaching a paw out.

Just as the bullets are about to close in, Frisk grabs his arm and he turns to face them. His features are twisting in the same way that the Memory Heads did, though his outline remains solid as a small boss monster. Frisk swallows in fear and shakes their head. He looks at Frisk for a moment, then turns again, raising his hand. Frisk grabs him, turning him around forcefully and shakes their head again. Behind them, the monster stirs, getting up and slowly limping away. The small boss monster's silhouette looks back at it in panic, then back to Frisk, shifting features looking angry. Frisk swallows and rubs their eyes, but doesn't back away. Instead they step forward and hugs him tightly. After a moment's hesitation, he slowly hugs Frisk back.

The monster is gone and around them, the sounds of the lab are returning. They both appear back in the basement of the lab, overhead lights flickering slightly. Frisk looks around to the two brothers, who stare at them in mild shock before rushing to them both. The silhouette hides his face in Frisk's shoulder, startled. Frisk tries to shoo them away. Sans gets the message pretty quickly, keeping Papyrus from crowding around them. The silhouette flickers a little and Flowey falls unconscious to the floor. What's left of the Memory Heads is scattering away from them.

"AH GRAB THEM!"

"papyrus, don't worry about it. they're running away." Frisk flinches as they rush past, then quickly picks Flowey up, looking for their flower pot. Papyrus pushes it over to them and they carefully put him back into it, looking at the chip in the pot a little sadly. Sans approaches them carefully. "hey, kiddo… you okay now?" Frisk nods slowly, holding onto the flower pot tightly. Sans glances at Papyrus. "you see that?" he says quietly.

"YE-"

"sh…" Sans says. Papyrus seems to decide he can't speak that softly and simply nods his head. Sans glances up at the camera, hoping Alphys was able to keep watching through that. "there's no way of mistaking what he looked like… definitely looked like a boss monster."

* * *

AN: and on this episode of undertale, things get weird. 6 chapters left. I'll post two tomorrow but I have had one of _those_ days so I'm just going to go take a nap now. If anyone leaves questions in a review, I'll respond then and not today, if that's alright.


	13. Doors

"A BOSS MONSTER? WOULD THAT MEAN HE'S-"

"shh…" Sans stands in silence for a moment, then turns to Frisk. "kid, what happened exactly?" Frisk shrugs, apparently still shaken by it. Sans sighs and puts a boney hand on their shoulder. "c'mon kid, lets get upstairs." Frisk nods and goes with Sans and Papyrus back to the elevator.

Alphys is waiting at the top. "I- I saw on the cameras… Is everyone okay?"

"yeah, but the dai- flowey took a beating," Sans says. Frisk is carefully putting the flower pot on Alphys desk. They poke at them a little, but he seems unresponsive. Sans says quietly to Alphys, "did… you see what he turned into?" She nods in silence. Sans looks back at Flowey. "how is something like that even possible? i mean… that would make him what, some sort of royalty? and how'd he even do that?"

"He… He was injected with DETERMINATION," she replies quietly. "It's a force that allows one to affect the world around them, change their own fate, persist after death…" She looks to Flowey. "Some of the amalgamates have shown shape shifting abilities. Perhaps with a strong enough motivation, he can do the same."

"then why not before now?" Sans asks.

Alphys considers. "The main difference between him and the amalgamates is that he doesn't possess a soul. From what we understand of them, the soul is what makes us capable of emotions and connections to other people, but looking at how he acts with Frisk… maybe Flowey is like a counter example to that."

"how though?"

Alphys shrugs. "Another effect of DETERMINATION? But anyway, if that connection allows him to experience the motivation he normally feels, it's entirely possible that it could unlock powers aside from the whole not-dying stuff."

"but he's just a flower right? how'd he end up thinking he's a boss monster? he's got the memories of one or something?"

"I… I really don't know," she says.

"hm…"

 ***Would you both stop talking about him? Say nothing.**

"eh… ok, yeah… sorry kid," Sans says. Frisk looks at him, clearly a little annoyed with their treatment of Flowey while he's unconcious. Sans smiles apologetically. "we're just trying to get to the bottom of this since he's so… unique. hey, has he ever talked to you about who he was before he went all…floral?"

 **Yes. *No.**

"…would ya tell us if you did know anything?"

 **Yes. *No.**

"great," Sans mutters. "well at least we learned one thing from all this. Those weird twisty-face things definitely have something to do with the distortions in time-space."

"Yeah, definitely," Alphys agrees. "But is that going to help us?"

"no idea."

She sighs. "Okay, well I guess keeping an eye on them will help."

"yeah," Sans says. "course they all came out of that weird gray door down there…"

Alphys pauses. "…Sans, what gray door?

"what do you mean, the gray door."

"There aren't any gray doors down there," she says. "Can you show me?"

"yeah," he says. "follow me. papyrus, look after the kid for a minute." Sans walks to the elevator and gets in.

"GOT IT," Papyrus replies. He grins at Frisk and sits down with them. "SO, I'M GLAD YOU'RE OKAY. I WAS REALLY WORRIED FOR A WHILE THERE." Frisk nods in silence. "ARE YOU HUNGRY? ALPHYS DOESN'T HAVE SPAGHETTI BUT SHE DOES HAVE INSTANT NOODLES AND THOSE ARE ALMOST CLOSE ENOUGH." Frisk shakes their head. "FRISK… I KNOW THAT MUST'VE BEEN SCARY BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL PROTECT YOU NEXT TIME."

 **Doubt it. *Thanks, Papyrus.**

"NO PROBLEM." Frisk stands and goes to look at Alphys's monitor. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Papyrus asks. Frisk points at the monitor. "AH. WATCHING THEM. PEOPLE WATCHING, WHAT A WONDERFUL, YET CREEPY PASTTIME. …LOOKS LIKE THEY CAN'T FIND THE DOOR BUT IT SHOULD BE THERE. I SAW IT TOO. DID YOU SEE ANY DOORS WHEREVER YOU WENT?" Frisk thinks about it for a moment, then shrugs. "OH. TOO BAD, THE ONE WE SAW WAS WEIRD."

After a few minutes, Sans and Alphys return. "Are you sure about the door, because uh… there was no door," Alphys says.

"of course i'm sure, we opened it," Sans says.

"Hm…" Alphys ponders it for a while before her phone rings. "Oh! Undyne's calling."

"you told her we found the kid, right?" Sans asks.

Alphys nods as she answers. "Of course, as soon as they showed up… Hey Undyne. You're on speaker."

"Aw, well I'll keep it tame then for the kid. Anyway, after you called and said you found the kid and were picking something up west of Waterfall, I found something that might qualify as weird and wanted to see what you had to say," she says.

"Really?" Alphys asks, interested. "What is it?"

"It's uh… a door?" Undyne says uncertainly.

"A door, okay…" Alphys says.

"I've never seen it before, it's in the cavern wall, it wasn't here earlier. It's just… weird looking, gray…"

"Wait," Alphys says. "Did you say gray?"

"Yeah," Undyne replies. "Why?"

"A gray door appeared in lab earlier according to Sans."

"Well it's Sans we're talking about," Undyne says.

"Uh… Um, Undyne, you're uh… You're still on speaker," Alphys says nervously as she looks over her shoulder at Sans.

"Yeah, I know," Undyne replies. Alphys looks at Sans worriedly, but he just shrugs, apparently unconcerned with what Undyne says about him.

"Oh… well… a- anyway, he said there were those face things in it… listen, I should have a camera around somewhere. Go get it so we can keep an eye on you if you open the door."

"Okay… got it." There's the sound of her footsteps as she walks away, then a slight scraping sound as she pulls a camera from whatever hiding spot Alphys had for it. "This should work…" She holds the camera up to her face and her wide grin fills the screen of Alphys monitor. "Can you see me alright?"

"Oh yeah, you're coming through just fine," Alphys says, amused by her wide smile.

"Now, just go through the door?" Undyne asks as she walks back, keeping the camera facing her for the moment.

"Yes, but be really careful," Alphys says.

"Heh, it's me. Do I even need to be?" In spite of what she says, Undyne does open the door very carefully and points the camera inward. It's pitch black inside. "I'm not seeing much, Alphys…"

"Go a little further in," Alphys instructs. "And keep that camera ready. I'll hang up so you're not distracted."

Undyne puts her phone away and keeps moving forward, until in the distance a figure is visible. They're turned around, facing away from the door and muttering to themselves. It's the same voice as before. The voice that Undyne doesn't understand. Sans, however, goes closer to the monitor, listening in. Soon enough, I can see the accompanying symbols. The wall of text that appears is huge, I start to decipher it as Undyne slowly approaches the figure.

He seems to speak in a distracted and disjointed manner. " _The core makes the heat into magical energy, a 7 percent efficiency rate. A low rate but magic is much more potent than heat. Magic destabilizes other magic. Monsters are made of magic. Magic could destabilize the barrier… yes, and then we would all be free. I could even study the sun. The core is the key, no one needs to die for that. The core is the key, but only 7 percent? We need so much more, but how can I fix it…_ " is what he's saying in his odd, garbled speech.

Undyne is only a few feet away from him. She reaches out and turns him around to face her. The face that meets hers is simple and almost mask-like, with only two eyes and a mouth. Cracks run down both sides of the face. Upon seeing Undyne he gasps in shock and fades away. "Hey! …Where'd you go…"

"he disappeared," Sans says quietly, looking at the screen with disappointment.

Undyne calls out to the figure in the room, but there's no response. She looks around the room, then sighs and dials on her phone. "C'mon Alphys, pick up…."

Alphys does, going to answer. "Hey, go ahead."

"The guy just poofed, you saw that right? Now what?"

"Just come on back out," Alphys says.

Undyne nods and exits, with the camera still facing her. "I just don't know what just happened." The door closes behind her, and as soon as it does, it vanishes.

"Undyne, look behind you!" Alphys says.

Undyne turns and looks. "What the… where is it? That gray door, where'd it go?"

"I don't know," Alphys says. "But that means two of them are closed." Frisk shakes their head suddenly and holds up three fingers. "Or... three maybe?" Alphys amends uncertainly. "

"So now what?" Undyne asks.

"Come on back to the lab I guess… Maybe we can find more of these doors and piece this together."

"Okay," Undyne says. "See you soon, and we'll get to the bottom of this."

And that's when I realize… When Gaster spoke of guiding them, he didn't just mean Frisk. He meant every single one of them. He meant using my influence of Frisk to affect the others. This whole time, in spite of the lack of control I've had, I've indirectly affected everything that's occurred after all. And not only that, when he referred to the 'gray ones' he didn't mean the odd monsters left behind when he was erased from this world. No, involved as they are, they aren't the way to fix this. By 'gray ones' what he meant were the _doors…_


	14. Lava, Elevators, and Robots

Flowey wakes up not long after Undyne arrives at the lab. "Frisk… you're okay…?" he asks weakly. Frisk nods and smiles at him. "Heh… good. I was worried sick you know."

"meh, don't sweat it prince flowey."

Flowey rolls his eyes then freezes. "What did… you just… call me?"

Sans smirks. "flowey."

"No, no I mean… I mean before that and… oh golly…" He looks flustered, which if anything, only intrigues Sans more. Flowey puts on his scariest face. "Stop looking at me like that!"

"nah."

"No playing around, kids," Undyne says. "Alphys says we've got another door to find, and it's all the way up near MTT."

"Yes… It's a pain since… T- that's so far," Alphys says.

"They'll be fine," Undyne says, "and by 'they' I mean… they will. I'm staying in here away from that awful heat. Last time I nearly died, I swear."

Alphys looks concerned. "Oh no…"

"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHH YEEEESSSSSSSS!" There is another crash, and a large, rectangular robot creates a second hole in Alphys lab. "YOU ALL MISSED MY WONDERFUL DEBUT BUT NO MATTER! THE SHOW MAY HAVE BEEN PUT ON HIATUS BUT IT ALWAYS MUST GO ON! LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!"

Alphys runs to the robot, waving her arms. "No no no no no no no no… not now!"

"HEY, YOU SAID THE CUE WORDS, AND I DELIVERED MY LINE BEAUTIFULLY!"

"Ch- ch- change of plans, not impressing the h- human today," she says, trying to shoo him.

"BUT THE HUMAN IS RIGHT THERE!" He points at Frisk dramatically.

"Yes, I know, the human is-" Alphys turns. "AH! Human, stop watching!" Frisk just stares in utter confusion.

"THE QUIZ IS STILL ON, IS IT NOT? WE'RE LOSING VIEWERS AS WE SPEAK!"

"geez, this guy is louder than papyrus…"

Papyrus looks at him in a scolding manner. "SANS, THAT'S THE UNDERGROUND'S NUMBER ONE ENTERTAINER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! METTATON!"

"WHAT'S THAT?" Mettaton asks. "COULD IT BE, WE HAVE A FAN IN THIS VERY AUDIENCE? NOW THIS COULD MAKE FOR SOME QUALITY PROGRAMMING! LUCKY FAN, COME ON DOWN, YOU'RE THE NEXT CONTESTANT ON THE QUIZ SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE THIS LOVELY CONTESTANT A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!" Sure enough, rainbow spotlights begin to circle around Papyrus as the crowd cheers. Confetti falls from the ceiling.

Papyrus puts his hands over his ribcage. "OH MY GOSH, THIS IS THE LUCKIEST DAY OF MY LIFE."

"Where the heck did the confetti come from," Undyne asks, looking perplexed.

Sans is pushing Frisk out the east door. "c'mon kiddo, we'll let papyrus have his spotlight and find that door ourselves, alright?" Frisk nods, looking back to Papyrus enthusiastically introducing himself to the audience.

 **Sans joins the party!**

"Never a dull moment with you people, is it?" Flowey asks.

"nope," Sans replies. "now then, we need to get to mtt huh? Luckily for you i know a shortcut."

"How many shortcuts do you know?"

"all of them. it's this way." He walks with them a room over, then stops and looks around when they unsurprisingly end up in the next room. "…this isn't right. ok, we'll try again. this way." He leads them back where they came from, and predictably for everyone but Sans, they end up back behind the lab. "…this way?" He walks east again, and is, once again, in the very next room. "…why isn't this working?" He walks back and forth between the two rooms a few times before staring around himself in confusion. "it's not working…"

"What's not working? Walking?" Flowey asks.

"no, my shortcut. …you know what, you two go ahead a bit. i'll meet you at the elevator on r2, ok?"

 ***Ok. No way.**

"great," Sans says, going to walk between the rooms a few more times.

Meanwhile, Frisk and Flowey are left to traverse Hotland without him. They move from room to room, doing puzzle to puzzle without Alphys help, since she's presumably dealing with Mettaton, though that doesn't seem to impede them much at all. After a few more rooms of hot air vents, lasers, and tsundereplanes, they arrive at the R1 elevator and step in. "He said R2, right? Not L2? Yeah R2, definitely. I mean I don't think this elevator even goes to L2, so we'll have to just walk there ourselves, I guess. Ha what a pain, why can't the elevator just take us all the way to the top? I mean that's the whole point of elevators right? Some kingdom Asgore is running, the elevators don't even work. Weird right?"

 **I guess? *Are you alright?**

"Me? Oh… gee… um… yep," Flowey says. "Why?

 **You look nervous. *You're talking a lot.**

Flowey sighs. "I am, huh? Alright I'll stop. Just push the button for L2, okay? …R2, I mean." Frisk looks at him silently and doesn't push the button. "Uh… Frisk. Go on, push the button. …Please?" They shake their head. "You're keeping me here until I say what's wrong, aren't you?"

 ***Yes. No.**

"Seriously?" Flowey asks, looking annoyed. "You know I saved your life right? And this is the thanks I get?"

 **Sorry. *How did you do that?**

Flowey falters. "I… I don't know. I've never done anything like that. …Well… Not without… a lot of extra, uh… soul power. Anyway…"

 ***What do you mean. Sans called you a boss monster.**

He looks even more nervous. "I… uh… I did some weird things in the last few timelines. Can we just leave it at that, please?" Frisk nods, though they still look curious. "Great, thanks pal."

 **What do you mean? *Sans called you a boss monster.**

"So he did see then…" Flowey looks down. "That's… not great. Do you know what boss monsters are?" Frisk shakes their head. "Well… generally white, fluffy, long ears, horns."

 ***Like Toriel? Like a jackalope?**

"…Yeah. Just like her." He frowns a little sadly, looking almost homesick. "Anyway, they live a long time, and their souls linger for a little while after death. And… have generally made up the royal family of monsters since we were banished to the underground. So… I guess you know what that means?"

 **You're royalty? *You're Toriel's son.**

"Yes," he says solemnly before he realizes what Frisk said. "Wait… No, I mean no… well yes but… wait no, no! I'm not, seriously. Frisk, I'm not. Okay? I'm n- you… you're shaking your head. You don't believe me do you? …Crud!" He hits his head on the side of the flower pot. "Look… don't… tell the others. Okay? That was a different life… literally." Frisk considers, then nods. "Thanks," Flowey says. "So can we get to R2 now?" Frisk nods again and presses the button.

After a quick ride up, they exit the elevator. Frisk looks around the area, but there's no sign of Sans. "Do… we… uh… wait for him?" Flowey asks. Frisk shrugs but sits down. "Wonder where he's at," Flowey says. "You know, it's weird, but he isn't quite as scary anymore. …Then again, he hasn't done that thing with his eyes in a while. Eesh…" Frisk shakes their head. "Oh come on, you know it's cree-" Behind them, there is a dinging sound. They both turn to see Sans exiting the elevator, looking a little defeated. "I take it you didn't find your short cut," Flowey says.

"yeah, no. let's just keep going," Sans replies, strolling to the left. He seems more than a little bothered by his loss of a short cut. "the rest of them had better be working," be says quietly.

"…Hey Sans," Flowey says cautiously. Sans looks over to him. "I know… you… lava good shortcut, but I think you met your… match in Hotland."

Sans is completely silent for a few moments before he chuckles. "…heh… keep working on your timing and you could be an awful comedian yet."

"Thanks?" Flowey says uncertainly. Sans shakes his head but smiles a little bit as they continue through Hotland. It takes a while but after fighting many monsters, solving a few more puzzles, and stupefying a certain Heats Flamesman due to remembering his name, they eventually reach the top. Ahead of them lies the MTT Resort. And just beyond that, Home. It's almost unfortunate that that's not where we're going at the moment. "So where's the door?" Flowey asks, looking around.

"we couldn't quite pinpoint it, but it was around here…" They look around the outside of MTT. Eventually the run into the two back alley shopkeepers, who when asked if they saw an out of place, gray door, "Like, totally didn't." "Yeah, totally didn't see, like, a door."

"Maybe it's inside the resort," Flowey suggests.

"hm… it could be," Sans says, thinking. "i guess all we can do is check it out."

The inside of the MTT Resort is lavishly decorated. Opalescent chandeliers hang from above, well kept ficusses line every corner, and a large, golden water fountain stature of Mettaton takes the center stage. It's spraying water just a little bit left of the rest of the fountain though. Most of the monsters inside the lobby are crowded around the elevator in the far right corner of the room though another few are lined up at the MTT Brand Burger Emporium, where an overstressed worker is trying to keep up with everyone's orders. "oh boy," Sans says as he walks forward, checking the perimeter for a door.

They take a turn down a hallway where a squidlike janitor is cleaning up… and spitting. Frisk decides they look too busy to talk to. Sans looks around for a gray door, but the only doors to be found here are requesting room service. They cross the lobby again and check the dinning area. There are a few monsters eating here, and one licking a plant in the corner, but there aren't any doors. "Maybe Alphys got it wrong?" Flowey suggests.

"no, it's gotta be somewhere here," Sans says. He snaps a boney finger in realization. "upstairs."

He quickly leads them back to the lobby and back through the crowd. "Hey, no cutting in line," a bespectacled white dog in red heels protests. Sans apologizes, but proceeds to elbow his way to the front of the line anyway, pulling Frisk and Flowey with him.

"c'mon elevator… c'mon…"

"It's busy," a small green dragon says.

"busy… hm… well i can fix that…" He raises his hand up and his eye glows a bright blue, then he lowers his hand slowly. The elevator dings and opens, and a small white dog runs out of it and out the front door. "there. easy as pie." He steps onto the elevator, and the other monsters in the lobby are too busy wondering where the little white dog showed up from to follow.

"Useful power," Flowey says.

"yeah," Sans agrees, rubbing his head with his eyes shut in mild pain. "anyway, the door must be up here."

They get off at the next floor and search around before going back to the elevator. It takes a few tries to find the right floor, but eventually, after getting off the elevator and turning down a hall, it's finally within their sight. Sans goes to it quickly, smiling a bit. "you two ready?" he asks.

Frisk nods and Flowey tells him, "Yeah, go ahead and open it." Sans does so and all three of them step into the darkness.

Just ahead of them, a tall figure, taller than the one Undyne encountered is mumbling to himself. He's dressed completely in black, and his clothes in places reveal an almost skeletal physique. Granted, with being Sans's brother and all, that would make a lot of sense. Sans is approaching him, seeming to understand perfectly what he's mumbling to himself. It takes me a minute to decode.

" _Harnessing the power of the core… it would allow us to break through the barrier… I've begun storing power, but the problem is that it needs a vector. A living vector through which the barrier could be stepped through and broken. But that amount of magical energy would surely destroy the soul of any monster…_ "

"w.d." Sans calls out holding a hand out to the figure.

The figure gasps and turns, looking at him. _"…Sans?_ " But before he can say any more, he's gone without a trace.

Sans lets his hand drop, staring after where his brother disappeared. "w.d. don't go… again…" Frisk goes to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "i… i'm ok kid… sorry. i'm ok. don't worry." He stands up, stretching slightly. "heh, he just… keeps disappearing. …where's he go? i don't know."

 **Me either. *We'll find him.**

"yeah… maybe," Sans says. "well… think that the robot is done quizzing papyrus? we should probably get back to the lab." Frisk nods and takes his hand. "what… do you know a shortcut or something?" he asks in mild amusment. Frisk nods again. The three of them step through the gray door and it disappears behind them. Frisk leads Sans to the R3 elevator, past the still stupefied Heats Flamesman, and they take the elevator back to the lab.

When they arrive, Undyne is helping Alphys sweep up confetti. Papyrus is staring off into space and grinning. "SANS, METTATON SAID I HAVE GREAT TV POTENTIAL! HE CALLED ME A CHARACTER."

Sans is still a little subdued. "that's… great, bro."

Papyrus is concerned. "HEY SANS ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"yeah, yeah just uh… homesick. …i guess."

"WELL WE CAN GO BACK TO SNOWDIN SOON, DON'T WORRY!" Papyrus says, smiling reassuringly. He stops smiling when from Sans's expression, it becomes obvious that that wasn't what he meant.

Alphys looks over to them from her computer. "Well, uh… we might need to go there. Soon, I mean. …There's a weird little… ripple by your h- house actually. It isn't the same as a door but it's uh… you know… there, so…"

"where, exactly?" Sans asks.

"A… few feet from your front door," Alphys says. "W… why?"

Sans thinks silently for a few moments. "no… no it didn't work. that couldn't be it, unless… could it be working?"

"BROTHER, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"the machine in my workshop," Sans answers. "this might mean… it's started running."


	15. The Space Between Seconds

Papyrus looks at him in confusion. "UH… WHAT MACHINE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

"a time machine," Sans says excitedly, leaving the lab.

Undyne watches him go. "And he's gone… Hey Papyrus, why didn't you tell me you have a time machine at your house?"

"I HAD NO IDEA MYSELF!" he says.

"He keeps you in the dark about a lot, doesn't he?" Undyne asks.

"Sh- should we go catch up with him?" Alphys asks.

"Yeah, probably," Undyne says. "Let's go."

After a little packing up, they head out, letting the river person row them back to Snowdin. Meanwhile I notice I don't feel alone as normal. Ah. Gaster. About time you showed up again. Now what does he want, I wonder.

" _You have something I need… is it possible you can give some of it to me?_ " he asks, once again as clear as mud.

"You're going to need to be a little bit more specific."

" _DETERMINATION,_ " Gaster says. DETERMINATION? Last time I checked, that stuff makes monsters melt. " _My body is still incomplete. I am not fully in this world. But the power to influence it could make things considerably easier._ "

"Yeah, sure, until you end up in a big pool of Gaster."

He seems unamused. " _I can handle a small amount. I don't expect to exist for long anyway. My death occurred years ago. That cannot be changed_."

How sad for Sans in that case, that his little quest is in vain. I have no idea what Gaster will do, and I sort of doubt he can really explain it to me. Still… I did promise to help him. But how am I supposed to give up some of my DETERMINATION?

As though sensing my thoughts, he speaks again. " _You agree? Then it is done. I will see you soon, fallen child._ "

I'm not really sure what that did… everything seems to be the same. As Frisk gets off the boat I make them turn around in a circle, so that seems to be working. It's a few minutes before I notice that Frisk's maximum health is now 19.

Everyone walks through Snowdin to Sans's and Papyrus's house. Sans is waiting for them out front, holding a silver key in his hand. "You got here fast," Undyne remarks.

"it actually took a while but i found a shortcut that still works," Sans says cheerfully. He waves the key around. "are you all ready?" he asks.

""TO GO INTO OUR STORAGE ROOM? AND I THOUGHT YOU LOST THE KEY, SANS."

"sorry, but this had to be kept secret. until now anyway." He unlocks the door and goes into the room. It's narrow enough that they have to file in one by one, and is lined with blueprints written in odd symbols and drawers and drawers, some filled with paper. In the very back corner is a large object covered by a white sheet, emitting a very muffled noise.

Sans pulls the sheet from the machine in the corner and a soft whirling sound fills the room. Frisk looks at the flashing lights and moving pumps and bellows and the odd readings graphs being tracked by a small screen before their eyes wander to a dusty glass door and small chamber within. Sans is looking at it too, a little amazed to see it running. He checks for any signs that it's been used, however it looks like it hasn't been touched since the last time that he worked on it before giving up on the project. He sighs and hits his skull lightly on the glass door.

"SANS, ARE YOU OKAY?" Papyrus asks with concern.

"yeah. fine. i just thought… maybe he… well it's nothing. alphys do you think you could use this to find any more doors?" he asks.

"Y- yeah, probably," she says, hooking up her computer and typing, examining the screen. "It might take a while though."

"I CAN PROVIDE SOME ENTERTAINMENT."

Sans shakes his head, looking over Alphys shoulder. "no, i need to focus on this. sorry."

"Yeah," Undyne says. "Well let's get out of here so those two can do their weird science thing." Frisk nods in agreement and they go with Papyrus and Undyne back into the main part of the house. Papyrus clicks on the TV to an MTT program. "Y'know I don't really get why Alphys likes that robot so much," Undyne says. "He's so overly dramatic."

"The first time you had a proper conversation with us, you were shouting about everyone's hearts beating as one from the top of a mountain," Flowey points out.

"Yeah, so?" Undyne asks.

Flowey rolls his eyes. "Nothin'. never mind."

"I LIKE METTATON. HE SAID I HAVE A LOT OF STAR POTENTIAL."

"Aw yeah you do, man," Undyne says, putting him in a headlock and rubbing his skull with her knuckles.

"DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON, AHH…"

"I don't understand them," Flowey admits. "I really don't."

Undyne grins. "What's not to get?"

"I don't know… Why are you two such good friends? Did one of you save the other or something?"

"UH… NO? BUT WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING AT ALL?"

"I mean… you're just… so… close?" Flowey says, trying to make sense of their relationship. It's funny, I had almost forgotten he doesn't have a soul. I wonder if he forgot how these things work. With Frisk and fond memories of me being the only exceptions to his coldness, maybe he doesn't really know how friends act anymore.

Undyne shakes her head. "Just don't worry about it, little chrysanthemum."

Flowey glares. "I don't even look like a cristant- crisanthun-um…. I don't look like that."

Undyne's expression softens considerably. "Awww, you can't say it."

Flowey grits his teeth. "Shut up. And stop looking at me like that!" Undyne laughs. "You're so stupid and annoying and just… Stop smiling!" A few bullets fly at her, which she swipes away with her spear. Most of them ricochet off and embed themselves in the walls. One knocks a rock off of a plate. Sprinkles fly everywhere.

"OH NO! SANS'S PET!"

Undyne grins. "What, you wanna fight or something, chamomile?" She puts a fist over her heart. "You wouldn't win."

"Oh please, I could kill you in my sleep!"

"Yeah sure, in your dreams maybe," she quips.

 **Who's side do you take?**

 ***Undyne's side. Flowey's side.**

 **Undyne's side. *Flowey's side.**

 ***Undyne's side. Flowey's side.**

They keep going back and forth uncertainly. Papyrus, meanwhile is trying to calm Undyne, to little effect. She has a competitive gleam in her eye and Flowey is seething in rage. Frisk eventually decides to disregard the choice box options, walks over to Flowey, picks him up, and puts him upstairs.

"Oh c'mon…. Frisk, seriously?"

"Ha, I win!" Undyne says.

 **Whatever. *It's not always about winning.**

Undyne frowns a little. "Eh… I guess."

Flowey still looks annoyed. "I'm not a christanthum." Frisk sighs and pats his head. They look down to Papyrus, picking sprinkles off the floor. "Can we go outside, Frisk?" Frisk nods, probably figuring it's a good idea to let him cool off and takes him out.

Flowey is quiet for a little while before sighing. "I'm uh… Sorry, I guess."

 **It's okay. *How come you only get along with me?**

He looks down. "I don't know. You're just… different, you know?"

 ***Not really. I guess.**

"Huh...? You don't think you're different from them?" he asks. Frisk shakes their head. "I… I think you… well you are. Because you're not stupid. But you are but… you aren't but… I don't know, you're just not the same, okay?"

 **Because I'm human? *Because I saved you?**

Flowey frowns. "I don't know… Maybe. Maybe I just know that I have to make sure you're okay to make everything right again…"

 ***And that's why you care? So you don't really care?**

Now that's an interesting question to ask. I push for Frisk to change their response and I must catch them off guard because I manage to influence them into asking the second option.

Flowey looks taken aback. "I… I… No. No, I mean… That isn't what I mean, okay? Why would you ask that?" He looks somehow both sad and angry and not entirely sure what his answer should be. "I mean… I don't… know. I just know I have to make sure everything is set right again, okay?"

 **… *…Okay…**

Flowey frowns. "I… I'm sorry… Look I really think you're great I just… I think I care about you but…" He grows quieter. "I just… don't know if I even can." Frisk frowns a little but turns at the sound of a door shutting. Alphys is approaching.

"Frisk, uh… Flowey. We've located another disturbance." She turns and goes into the house, probably to tell Undyne and Papyrus the same thing.

"We should probably go look," Flowey says quietly.

Frisk nods and they walk back to the little workshop. Sans is sitting on the counter, swinging his legs and looking over readings on the machine. Frisk stands to the side and waits for Alphys to return.

"alright kiddo, me and you are going in there," Sans says.

"Why you and Frisk?" Flowey asks.

"Well, it's mainly because they're both, uh… small. If we sent Papyrus or Undyne, they'd have to go on their own. And you and Frisk have the most experience with these out of time zones."

"Is that what we're calling them?" Flowey asks. "Sigh… well I guess that makes sense."

"yep. besides, i built the thing, i get to try it out. it's only fair," Sans says.

"I still can't believe you had a broken time machine," Flowey says.

"yeah yeah. you ready to go, kid?"

 ***Yes. No.**

"right this way then," he opens the door to the machine and squeezes in. Frisk follows, placing Flowey on top of Sans's skull. "ah. payback i see." Frisk smiles a little and nods.

"Alright," Alphys says. I'll be monitoring you all from here. Good luck everyone."

Frisk nods and looks up at a flashing light above them. It blinks a few times before a blinding light fills the chamber and they shut their eyes tight. When they open them again, they're back in the world of darkness. Hm, so that's all Sans's machine managed to do? They could've just asked me to stick them there.

Sans looks around. "it's… really dark."

"Yeah, that's kind of how this place is. So where's the door?" Sans shrugs and gestures around vaguely. "Oh. Great. You have no idea. Why am I even surprised?"

"i don't know. it really shouldn't surprise you, heh…"

Flowey sighs as Frisk walks around with them. It doesn't take too much searching before they come across a large brick wall. "I guess there might be a door in this somewhere," Flowey guesses.

"sounds good." He leads them along, walking next to a wall. After several minutes they spot a gray door embedded within it. "think we found it. hey frisk, care to do the honor?" he asks. Frisk nods their head and steps forward, resting their hand on a doorknob for a moment and looking at the door before slowly turning it.

They start to open the door, though this time, they do not even need to go through. A gloved but clearly boney hand grabs the door frame and pushes the door all the way open. A tall, gaunt figure with disproportionately long limbs steps out. Sans stumbles backwards in surprise and Frisk moves back slowly as they look up at his face. It looks strikingly similar to the first figure that Undyne saw, though more detailed and complete. His cheekbones are defined now, as is his nose. Cracks run down either side of his face. Though he doesn't seem completely together as he's missing his lower jaw entirely, and in its place is only swirling darkness.

"b- bro…" Sans starts, though he still looks shocked. "ha, we… we found you. and you're alright mostly! what'd you do, finally talk your jaw off?" The skeleton looks at him silently. "uh… that was bad sorry. but i can't believe you're-" Gaster suddenly lifts an arm, his right eye glowing a violent red. Sans gasps in surprise as he's frozen in place. "w.d. …what are you doing!?"

" _I'm sorry, Sans_." he makes a motion with his other hand and Frisk stares in horror as a blue energy is drained outwards from Sans. Sans goes completely limp as Gaster takes the energy, seeming to consume it. After a moment his left eye glows to match his right, this one a cold blue. Gaster touches his face and makes an odd garbled sound. It takes Frisk a moment to realize that he is laughing. They take their knife and try to attack.

The battle ends before it can even start. Gaster holds them up with ease, and their toy knife floats away from them.

You can't kill them. You know that right? That's my only avatar in this world. I'll reset if you kill them. You had better be listening to me.

He seems to be, though he doesn't look concerned. " _Their purpose has been served. So too has yours._ " Once I decipher what he says, I'm somehow both offended and terrified. What does he mean our purpose has been served? This wasn't going to be my reward for helping him. I direct Frisk to attack, but Flowey beats me to it, sending a barrage of bullets at Gaster's arm. He drops Frisk and Sans, flinching in pain, and turns to Flowey before seeming to decide against further conflict, fading out of existence.

Flowey breathes a sigh of relief and looks at Frisk, who's pushing themselves to their feet and retrieving their toy knife. They turn to Sans, looking fearful when he still doesn't move. "He… isn't dead is he?" Flowey asks. "There's no dust anyway. He's alive." Frisk shakes Sans a little and he coughs, turning on his side and batting them away weakly. Frisk shakes him again.

"i'm up… quit." He pushes himself up onto wobbly legs and looks around. "…so he's gone. that's a shame…"

"What did he even do to you?" Flowey asks.

"i have no idea," Sans admits. "but we need to get out of here and let the others know what happened."

Undyne, Alphys, and Papyrus are silent as Sans recounts the encounter. He sounds more tired than normal as he speaks. Papyrus is the first to say anything to him. "ARE YOU HURT?" is what he asks.

Sans shakes his head. "no, i'm ok. i'm not hurt anyway." Papyrus nods.

Alphys speaks up. "W- when you were uh… in the time vortex, the readings for anomalies went off the charts… we aren't s- sure where to go from…. Here."

"the core," Sans answers. "that's where he'll be going."

"Y- you're sure?" Alphys asks. Sans nods slowly, without even a shade of doubt in his eyes.

Undyne looks at him. They might not see eye to eye, but she looks a little concerned nonetheless. "So what are we doing to this jerk once we find him?"

"Absolutely nothing," Sans says seriously, apparently threatened by her tone. He takes a breath to calm himself then continues. "w.d. must have a good reason for what he's doing. he must. we just need to see what it is and what he's planning next."

"And what, you're going to help him?" Undyne asks.

Sans is quiet for a moment before shrugging somberly. "i just don't know."

This isn't what I wanted… This isn't what I wanted at all. Why is this Gaster even more of a rogue agent than Flowey is? Well… it doesn't matter. All I have to do is make sure they all catch up to him. Then I put him exactly back where I found him.


	16. The Last Calm

They set out soon after, walking up to the River person. Sans is a little sluggish, apparently still recovering from whatever his brother did to him. When they arrive at the little alcove where the River person usually is, however, they're gone. A tiny note lies on the ground. Sans picks it up.

"hm… 'la la la, river running the wrong way. taking my vacation now, lo lo lo.' and that's all it says."

"I GUESS EVEN RIVER PEOPLE GET VACATIONS," Papyrus muses.

Sans sighs. "y'know, i normally couldn't get mad at someone for slacking off, but in this case…"

Undyne frowns. "Sans, just do your weird shortcut thing, we don't have time to waste if you want to catch up to Gaster."

"right," Sans says, rubbing his left temple. "i'll try." He seems to focus for a minute, then gasps for air. "h- hold on…" He concentrates deeply, but nothing happens. "this isn't working… maybe i can see when the river current will change." He tries to focus again, but gives up after a minute. "i… i don't think i can see anything either…"

"YOU'VE GONE BLIND? YOU MUST'VE HIT YOUR HEAD REALLY HARD!"

"no… no, i just can't… concentrate on it. i can't use my magic," Sans says, looking at his left hand. "i can't use any of it… it's just gone."

"Your brother probably took it from you," Undyne says.

"He did get a blue eye right afterwards," Flowey points out. Sans frowns, looking disturbed by that idea. "So… how are we getting back to The Core without the boat?"

Everyone is silent for a moment until Papyrus speaks up. "WELL, I DID MAKE A RAFT AS PART OF A PUZZLE ONCE."

A few minutes later, they're all floating down the river leading to Hotland. Undyne and Papyrus are taking turns rowing, and between the two of them they're actually getting them there at a decent speed, especially once the river's current shifts back to normal. Sans, still exhausted, is lying on his back, occasionally snapping phalanges, trying to get a blue spark to appear. So far, he's been utterly unsuccessful.

Flowey looks to Frisk. "Hey did I ever tell you about when Chara told me they were a pirate?" Frisk shakes their head. "Okay so… basically they said they used to find buried treasure and feed people to sharks. …Mostly feed people to sharks. And they had a sword so sharp it could cut a ship in two."

"That's not real, is it?" Undyne asks.

Flowey looks a little embarrassed. "Well… no, but I believed them for a while. I was still pretty little. I even believed it when he said my dad's trident was stolen from their old rival- Poseidon- I think he might've been some sort of dinosaur."

Recolection flashes in Undyne's eyes. "Wait… did you say trident?"

Flowey seems to realize his mistake. "I uh… meant pitchfork. Chara just said it was a trident to make it sound cooler."

"You're really not a good liar you know," Undyne tells him. Flowey looks away sheepishly. "What's your dad's name anyway?"

"Uh.. uh… Erogsa," he says quickly. I can't even help but feel frustrated by how transparent he can be sometimes. One would think years worth of villainy would turn him into a decent liar, but no.

"WOW, YOUR DAD HAS THE SAME NAME AS KING ASGORE, JUST BACKWARDS," Papyrus says.

"Nice job spotting that," Undyne says.

"THANKS, I DO THE JUNIOR JUMBLE A LOT."

Flowey looks away from them. "Huh… uh… some coincidence, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Undyne says with a little smirk.

Meanwhile Sans looks up at a crystal as they float down the river. "hm…"

"SANS, YOU HAVE A WEIRD FAR OFF LOOK, ARE YOU SURE YOU DON'T HAVE A CONCUSSION?" Papyrus asks.

"yeah, i'm sure," Sans says quickly. "i was just… thinking, i guess."

"About crystals?" Undyne asks, distracted from her interrogation of Flowey.

"well… yeah, sort of," Sans admits. "w.d. used to take me through here. he'd point out the crystals and ask me if i knew how they work. 'magic, right?' i'd say, and then he'd ask me if i knew how magic worked. heh, lots and lots of talk about how the crystals convert magical energy to light energy, back and forth… it was fun."

"IT… SOUNDS GREAT?" Papyrus says uncertainly.

Sans smiles a little. "well you never found it very interesting."

"OH! THANK GOODNESS," he replies. "HEY SANS, WHAT IS THIS OTHER ME LIKE ANYWAY?"

"oh, well... uh, you were in the royal guard, and you-"

"I WHAT?" Papyrus interupts.

Sans seems amused. "yeah, bro, it was sort of cool. w.d. might've pulled a few connections, he was still proud of you though, heh..."

Papyrus grins, almost looking jealous of himself. "I BET I WAS SO... POPULAR!"

"yeah, but you kinda hated the job," Sans says.

Papyrus stares. "HOW COULD I POSSIBLY HATE IT? I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE IN THE GUARD..."

"you just hated being mean to anyone."

"Sounds just like Papyrus," Undyne says.

"MAYBE..."

"I always kinda thought you'd be happier in a different line of work," she says. He taps his mandible thinking about that.

Flowey looks at the glowing gems around him. "So, he liked these weird crystals?" he asks. "Gaster, I mean..."

Sans nods. "definitely… we spent a lot of time here. and he'd tell me, 'look, you see the ones embedded in the cavern ceiling? a lot of monsters use those to make wishes.' and i'd say, 'well what do you wish for?' and he said… 'me? well… i'd like to see the sun some day.' i asked what that was, and he told me it was a star that was so close to us it looked huge for half of a day, whenever we could see it. and it was so bright that even when we were faced away from it, it would often reflect back off of other planets and off of a big rock in the sky."

"YOU ALWAYS DID LIKE OUTER SPACEY STUFF. BUT SUPER CLOSE STARS? GIANT ROCKS IN THE SKY? THAT SOUNDS FAKE," Papyrus says.

"No, those are real," Alphys says. "The humans are able to see them every day, just ask Frisk."

"FRISK, IS THERE REALLY A GIANT ROCK IN THE SKY?"

 ***Yes. No.**

"OH, WOW, THAT'S SORT OF COOL."

"yeah," Sans says. "course then he'd start talking about how the sun is different from the false stars here… the sun uses nuclear power and emits radiation, while the crystals use magic to emit radiation in the form of light.. and then he gets this idea. he said 'you know, if magic can become light, how hard would it be to turn light into magic?' but we don't have much light down here… a radiation we do have is lots and lots of heat over in hotland."

"And… that's how he got inspiration for the Core?" Alphys asks.

"yep," Sans says.

"Hmm," Undyne says. "You know, he kind of sounds like… a nerd."

"how insightful, thanks for that input," Sans says. "well anyway he is, but… i mean, in spite of everything, i don't think he has it in him to hurt anyone… you know?"

"He took your weird powers," Flowey points out.

"yeah, and i don't know how he did that… but still." It's almost touching seeing the extent Sans wants to believe in his brother. Still… once I find Gaster, I'm going to murder that piece of garbage skeleton even if the only weapon Frisk has managed to find in this whole run of the timeline is a little toy knife.

It's a while before they arrive at Hotland, and even then after that, they still have to get to the elevator and ride all the way up. Undyne is holding her head, looking like a fish out of water. "We need to hurry… I hate this place so much."

"You know this might be the last calm before the storm," Flowey points out.

"There won't be a storm," Sans says firmly. "at least… i really hope their won't be."

They go up through the MTT resort, into the core itself. This is nearly the end, I suppose… time to find Gaster. As they go through the levels of the MTT resort, they have to stop suddenly when they reach a dead end. Alphys walks in front of them, going to a computer terminal. "This isn't s- supposed to be here," she says. "Here, I can override it so this passage way opens up." After a few moments of typing, the screen flashes red. She taps a few keys and frowns.

"What's wrong?" Undyne asks.

"It's just this c- computer… I've been locked out? Uh…. Maybe he reprogramed them."

"He must know we're coming," Flowey says.

After a few minutes of wandering, they walk into a room that is mostly a large, empty space. A bridge spans the gap between the room before and the next. At the center of the bridge Gaster stands, looking up at the ceiling and not yet reacting to their presence. Frisk approaches cautiously. Without even looking at them, Gaster speaks. "You're here now… are even you planning on stopping me, brother?"

"What did he just say?" Undyne asks.

Sans translates quickly before looking back towards Gaster. "that depends, w.d. what are you gonna do?"

"What am I going to do…" he repeats. "Hm... You must realize, Sans, that this world," Gaster says, looking out over the core and gesturing broadly, "is broken. This timeline is wrong… its events are out of place. My erasure quite possibly triggered the fracturing of this timeline. I must be the one to fix it."

"fix it?" Sans asks after translating what he said. Everyone around him is growing anxious. Whatever Gaster has planned, I doubt it will be good.

" _Yes_ ," he continues. " _You see, there is a fundamental anomaly in this timeline – a crack that allows those with slight control over the universe to impose their will over it. Resetting, redoing, shaping the events to their will, over and over._ " He turns his gaze towards Frisk and Flowey. " _Saving… resetting… you two have done so much more damage than you even realize. You think that you're helping… don't you?_ " He throws his head back, looking at the mechanisms of the core. _"All you've done is deepen the cracks. Tell me… did you really ever expect this to be the last time you go through these motions? Did you expect to simply be_ done _with this world once you fix whatever mistake you perceived to begin with?_ " He strides towards them and Frisk walks backwards in fear. " _No… impossible. Your very existence is tethered to these resets. A sickness has crept into you, little fallen child. A compulsion you have no chance of breaking. You, yourself, are now just as much of an anomaly as the flaws in the universe that give you your power._ "

"You're wrong," Flowey says. " _It wasn't ever Frisk resetting constantly… they just got caught up in this._ "

Gaster tilts his head. " _I'm aware of their… situation. But nonetheless, they are the avatar that allows the fallen child into this world. I do not plan to kill them, don't worry. They are powerless to stop me now anyway. An agreement was reached._ " He lifts his right hand, cloaked in red magic. " _I asked only for DETERMINATION. I never said how much. But I don't expect that your little "Chara" has much strength over them now._ "

In a panic, I look at Frisk's health, now maxed out at ten. I try to move them… nothing at all, even though they aren't guarding against it. He tricked me… and now I'm powerless.

Gaster looks around at the others. " _They will be erased along with the other anomalies of this timeline. Which is… everyone changed by the events that were altered._ "

"w.d. you can't do that!" Sans objects, not even bothering to translate what he said to the others.

" _And why not,_ " Gaster asks. " _You must know these are not the people you grew up with, Sans. Even your brother there…_ " He points to Papyrus. " _That is not the Papyrus you knew. Not the Papyrus that we knew. He is not our family._ " Papyrus looks to Sans in confusion and uncertainty.

"yes he is!" Sans says angrily, not even considering the alternative. "he's just as much my brother as you are! and just because everyone here isn't from the original timeline doesn't mean they aren't still monsters! these are lives you're talking about taking, w.d. not some simple thing you can fix. how's doing what you think you're going to do any different from what you said frisk and flowey did? huh?"

" _Because I will be resetting the timeline to how it should be, not just what pleases me most. You're letting your judgment be clouded by false sentiment, Sans. Let me relieve you of that._ "

With a flick of his right wrist, Papyrus is thrown sideways, hurtling off the bridge.

"NO!" Sans gasps, lifting his hand and trying to use his power to pull him back. It's only a split second before he remembers, and the utter horror of the situation can be seen through his eyes. Undyne runs to the edge, but can't grab him.

Flowey acts quickly, sending a few bullets zipping through the air. They hit Papyrus in his armor, pushing him just high enough back up that Undyne can grab onto his leg. She and Sans hoist him up, and though he looks like he's in shock and his armor is severely dented, he's alive.

Gaster looks unamused as he walks towards Flowey. " _The child, the lesser skeleton, the warrior, the scientist, even Sans… they're no threat to me at all. You… on the other hand…_ " Gaster stops and looks at Flowey closely. " _Hm… what even are you? Such power to cause so many changes across time-space, and yet you are a simple houseplant?_ " His blue eye suddenly glows sharply, much the same way that Sans's did. " _Or a being without a soul? How very… very…_ interesting."

Flowey is pulled suddenly away from the others, a blue field of magic surrounding him. "What are you doing?" he asks fearfully.

Gaster seems to be ignoring him, talking to himself. " _No soul… then his life shouldn't even be possible. And yet, he has autonomy… he has sentience… this could be exactly what I need. But who exactly are you…_ " His red eye glows brightly and he waves his hand.

Suddenly, surrounding all of them are what look to be moments of his life… Asriel playing through a garden… Holding a child up with his shoulder and helping them walk… collapsing back at the royal palace after his short venture to the surface… a golden flower growing where he fell, before being plucked out of the ground by Alphys.

" _I see,_ " Gaster says, looking at him. " _The young prince Asriel… something seemed familiar about you. But that matters little… you may have once represented a hope for monsters coexisting with humans, but now you will live up to that promise by destroying that which separates us_."

"Let. Me. Go!" Flowey says, struggling.

" _No_ ," Gaster replies. He has to duck as a spear suddenly swooshes past his face. " _Ah… so that's how it'll be._ " He moves Flowey back behind him and rubs his hands together, blue and red sparks flying from them.

Undyne throws another spear at him, fury in her eye. He deflects the hit easily, using the blue and red energy to tear metal panels from the walls and use them as shields before throwing them. Undyne yells and jumps, landing agilely on top of one before jumping to the next to get another stab in. He throws another metal sheet, but she lands just as easily on it.

Sans and Papyrus are running towards Gaster, and Papyrus tosses a few bones his way. With surprising agility, Gaster evades them. Sans sneaks in one extra hit and it nearly hits Gaster before he waves a hand, disintegrating it.

"papyrus, blue!" Sans says quickly.

"RIGHT!" he replies, launching a blue attack. Gaster simply pulls Undyne into the way of it, and she sinks to the floor, weighed by the sudden increase in gravity. "SORRY UNDYNE!"

She tries to stab at Gaster again, but the sudden slowness allows him to easily dodge her attack. Alphys picks up a piece of metal from the ground and throws it, hitting them in the side of the skull. All it seems to do is anger him however and he rushes towards her. " _Was replacing me not enough, Alphys?_ " he asks. She walks backwards in fear.

Undyne takes the opportunity to stab at him from behind. "Don't you _dare_ hurt her!" she shouts.

It only narrowly misses as Gaster vanishes and reappears on the other side of the room. "Predictable… how far the royal guard has fallen in this timeline."

With his back turned to them, Frisk grabs Flowey, holding on tightly. Gaster looks back and waves a hand, shaking both Flowey and Frisk vigorously. Frisk is only able to hold on for a minute before they're sent crashing out of the room and into a wall. Gaster wastes no time with the others, throwing them into the room in front of him.

" _Now then_ ," he says, _"If you're all quite done, I have a timeline to save._ " He turns and walks away from them with Flowey in tow.

In spite of being hurt from being thrown into a wall, Frisk quickly pushes themself up and chases after them. Gaster turns and his blue eye flashes, unceremoniously sending Frisk flying sideways, off the walkway.

"Frisk, NO!" Flowey cries out. "Frisk! Frisk!" But their voice is growing quieter and quieter as Gaster walks away with him.

Papyrus is the first to scramble up, still listening to Flowey's voice. "FRISK? …OH NO!" He spots them dangling from the edge, and quickly pulls them up and hugs them tightly. "OKAY, YOU'RE ALRIGHT NOW… HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" he asks as Frisk struggles to pull themself away from him. Frisk isn't listening, they're already trying to chase after Flowey. "HEY STAY WITH US, FRISK, DON'T LEAVE."

Sans and Undyne are catching up to them.

"Did you guys see all those weird visions?" Undyne asks. Sans nods, but says nothing else. They don't have time to discuss it.

Frisk is still moving forward. They look around for any sign of Flowey or Gaster but they both seem to be gone without a trace.

"stay determined," Sans says quietly, pulling them along, towards a point he seems certain Gaster could be going to. "we need to find him, and soon. we have a timeline to save."

* * *

AN: Two more chapters. I think i'll go ahead and upload them both at the same time some time this weekend, so be on the lookout for the conclusion. Also, I added a few extra lines of dialogue in this that aren't in the ao3 version of the story so hey, that's the bonus of reading it on here I guess? You don't get cool fonts, but you do get a few new lines about the other timeline's papyrus.


	17. The Fall of the Barrier

Gaster has a good head start on the others. He moves through the core quickly, still carrying Flowey who's completely immobilized within the magic surrounding him. He ducks into a room towards the center of the core, taps a few numbers into a computer terminal and stands back as a secret door is opened. Flowey stares at it as the pathway is opened towards what looks like it could be the very heart of the machine. Rows and rows of light filled glass tubes line the walls, and at the very back and center of the room is a small glass chamber hooked up to all of them. Gaster puts Flowey into it and closes it before he can escape.

Flowey, finally able to move again, unleashes a furious attack of bullets on the glass. They bounce off the glass harmlessly, making him have to duck and dodge away from the ricocheting bullets. Gaster looks at him and shakes his head. "The glass is meant to contain magic. There's no point in what you're doing."

Flowey looked confused. "W- what?"

Gaster sighs and types on the computer, and it speaks aloud for him. "I said, what you're doing is pointless. The glass is a special crystal compound that reflects magic." He minimizes the text to speech program and starts working on something else.

"What… are you doing?" Flowey asks.

Gaster looks up from the computer briefly, then looks back down continuing his work.

"I asked you a question!"

"I heard you," Gaster replies with the computer. "Don't worry about it. It will be over soon enough."

"A… am I going to die?" Flowey asks.

Gaster considers it, "Hm, can a creature without a soul truly die? Are they alive to begin with?"

"Yes!" Flowey shouts, standing up taller as though to exaggerate his own existence. "So… you don't have to do this."

"Unfortunately… I do, you'll have to understand, it's for the good of the world," Gaster says as he gestures briefly over to a lever on the wall before continuing to type. "Once I pull this, all the energy stored in the core will be transferred to you… all of that magical energy should be more than equivalent to the energy of seven human souls, more than enough to shatter the barrier."

"But… what does the barrier have to do with anything?"

"It's where the cracks end… for whatever reason the breaking of the barrier is a convergence point. When it goes down, I will have just a moment to seal them and put my timeline back where it should be."

Flowey looks down, eyes fixed to a point far beyond the glass confines of the machine he's sealed into. "But… what happens to this timeline?"

Gaster shrugs. "It was never meant to be, and so it won't be. Nothing to worry about, really, I'm sure the version of you from the original timeline is doing much better than being trapped in a flower."

"But that isn't me, that's a different Asriel," Flowey protests. Gaster doesn't seem to care, looking at the lever. "I… I won't help you, you know. I won't break the barrier if that's what you're planning to do!"

"Oh you poor little Prince. Think to yourself, from the moment your little friend gained the power of determination, the power of saving, of resetting… Once all that occurred… since when were you the one in control?" Flowey stares at him, and in truth, he probably has no idea. "You will do as I direct you to. The energy given to you will be too overwhelming by far for you to make any conscious decisions of your own."

Flowey's determination to stay strong begins to break down. "Please don't do this, please don't… please…" Gaster shakes his head and wordlessly walks over and pulls the lever. "No!" In a last attempt to free himself, Flowey sends a volley of bullets against the glass. It changes nothing.

The power flows into him, filling the chamber with blinding light.

* * *

"it's this way," Sans says, leading them forward. He ends up skidding to a halt when he's faced with a dead end. Papyrus, who had been keeping close to him nearly crashes into him, and Frisk nearly crashes into Papyrus, before Undyne yanks their shirt back and stops the chain of collisions before it can start. Sans stares at the wall, puzzled. "at least i thought it was…"

"Sans, if you'd t- tell me where you're trying to go, I might be able to help get us there," Alphys points out.

Sans shakes his head. "no, he never showed this room to you, not even in the other timeline…" He looks around. "but it should be near here…"

"What should?" Undyne asks.

"energy storage," Sans says, looking around. He searches a few more corridors and eventually come across what looks like an empty room and grins. "here we are," he says, walking to a computer and typing in it. The back wall opens up, and the room, the glass tubes, and the chamber in the back are all empty. "oh no…" he says quietly.

"SANS, THERE IS NOTHING HERE!" Papyrus says. Frisk meanwhile finds the crudely painted flower pot and picks it up in silence.

"yeah, i know," Sans replies. "that must mean he's already been here… we need to hurry to the barrier."

* * *

Getting to "New Home" is no hard task for Gaster. He points through an empty hallway in which large glass windows letting a soft, golden light through. But that changes quickly when Asriel steps into the cooridor. Around him, the final product of years of storing vast quantities of magic are making his small form shine like a beacon, drowning out any other source of light in the room. "Right this way," Gaster says to him, though there is no indication that Asriel can understand. He simply continues to walk down the hallway.

Gaster moves ahead, into the hall leading to the throne room and leads him in in silence. Not too far ahead of them, a large, horned monster is turned away, watering golden flowers. Asriel takes another step forward and in front of them, the monster's ears perk as he hears the sound. His cloak makes a slight sweeping noise as he turns to greet them.

"Hello," he says in a deep, rumbling voice. "Sorry, I didn't realize I'd have vis-" As he sees who's in the room, his mouth falls open and the watering can he was holding drops to the ground. The sound echoes through the silent room. "Asriel?" the king whispers, blinking his eyes as though he's certain they're deceiving him.

His son doesn't answer, staring ahead blankly with empty, glowing eyes. Gaster, meanwhile, steps forward, gesturing for Asgore to move aside. King Dreemurr stands his ground, and Gaster rolls his eyes, directing Asriel forward. He obeys without thought.

"What have you done with him?" Asgore asks. Gaster doesn't answer, eyes glowing as a warning. Asgore draws his trident, unintimidated. "We don't have to do this, but you shouldn't move forward any further… whoever you are." Gaster takes a step forward and Asgore sighs a little sadly. "I see… well then…"

In a flash he swings his trident at Gaster. Gaster ducks under it once, and before it's swung again, he lifts a hand and stops it dead in its tracks. Asgore pulls the trident back, and rings of fire magic launch at him. Gaster raises a hand, pulling bricks away from a wall and shielding himself. He then retaliates, throwing the bricks at Asgore.

Asgore puts up a valiant effort to stop Gaster, but it's little use. Eventually, there's nothing Asgore can do but step between Gaster and Asriel, shielding him with his trident.

Gaster sighs. "You really think that's going to help? You won't stop me now," he says moving forward.

Suddenly a burst of flame hits Gaster, knocking him away from Asriel slightly.

"What a miserable creature… what have you done here?" A soft but protective voice asks, sounding unusually clear in the silence that surrounds them. King Asgore looks towards the entrance of the throne room in shock as Toriel steps forward and sends a burst of fire magic at Gaster. He has to dodge quickly just to avoid being charred.

Asgore stares for a moment. "Tori!?"

Toriel's determined expression falters slightly at his voice, lapsing into annoyance, but she quickly recovers it, throwing another volley of fire against Gaster, trying to get to Asgore and Asriel. "Asriel…" she calls out to him. The prince looks up at her without recognition.

Gaster looks between the three them. "A family reunion, is it?" he asks. He throws Asgore towards the opposite wall and puts his arm in front of Asriel.

"Let him go!" Toriel says.

Gaster's left eye glows brightly and blue magic surrounds Asriel's hand, lifting it up. He swings it and a bright beam of light knocks Toriel away. "Tori!" Asgore calls out to her, but he's soon subjected to the same attack. They both tumble into the wall of the garden.

Gaster allows Asriel to lower his hand, but keeps his magic up, moving him forward. "Almost there… almost there…" he murmurs to himself.

Toriel has just enough strength left to push herself up and see Gaster disappear behind the throne, leading her son away.

* * *

The group reaches the throne room not too much later after Gaster leaves it. Sans rushes in to look for him, but he's already moved on to the next room. Undyne spots Toriel and Asgore and turns to Sans. "Hey you and Papyrus go ahead, we'll catch up." Sans nods, and the two skeleton brothers leave.

Frisk runs to Toriel, helping her up. "Oh… thank you, my child," she says, sounding a little sore. Her eyes are fixed on a heart shaped locket that Frisk must have discreetly picked up on their way from The Core. She turns to the king. "Asgore, get up, we need to go. Now." Asgore stands quickly, wincing.

"Oh good, we have more backup," Undyne says to Asgore, before taking a better look at Toriel. "Wait… that your ex? What's she doing here?"

"I have no idea… Tori, how did you know to come?" Asgore asks.

"Well, I found something odd in the ruins, a gray door… and… well I can explain later, we need to catch up."

"You're right," Asgore says. "The barrier is this way everyone." He leads them all forward.

"It's all come down to this," Gaster says quietly, looking out at the brightness of the barrier. Though Sans and Papyrus had both tried to slow him further, he'd tossed them aside effortlessly. "One last obstacle… once this goes down, the effect will ripple back to the original timeline… And I'll have finally accomplished what I truly wanted to do with the core. …Isn't that exciting, Asriel?"

Asriel doesn't respond. The white hot energy that now made up his entire being was swirling around him, a supernova of light and magic. He looks towards the barrier with eyes fixed straight ahead.

"Well… You know what you have to do," Gaster says, gesturing forward. Without true comprehension, Asriel nods slowly and starts walking forward, each step leaving the ground glowing in his wake. He walks nearly halfway to the barrier when, far behind him, Frisk enters the room.

 ***Asriel! Asriel?**

He turns around, looking back at them. They're clutching their tiny toy knife, though after all this time, I can't picture them using it. Around their neck, Asriel seems to be transfixed on the heart-shaped locket. "Ch… ar… a?" he asks slowly. His voice echoes around the room.

Frisk shakes their head, but goes to him, holding a hand out.

Asriel stares at them, when suddenly a dim recollection is evident in his brilliantly shining eyes. "Frisk…"

 **Asriel, you have to come back with me. *Please come back!**

He stares at them without understanding what they're saying to him.

"Asriel, the barrier," Gaster says, turning him towards it.

"Asriel!" Toriel calls out. The king stands with her, trident gripped in his hand.

Asriel looks around himself, confused, and covers his ears, crouching into a ball. Gaster sighs in annoyance and pushes him towards the barrier. Undyne and Asgore each rush to stop him but he throws them aside as though they are nothing. Asgore looks up as Asriel touches the barrier.

As soon as he makes contact, he's lifted into the air, and the barrier brightens as the energy diffuses around him. Gaster's eyes flash red and blue and a crashing sound is heard from high above. Frisk looks up as a crack forms in the sky. Everything is still for a moment before the very earth around them begins to shake, and small pieces of what looks like light solidified rain down from crack in the sky. They crash to the earth with a shattering sound.

It's then that I realize that they were much too late to stop what was to come.

The entire world is ending. Larger and larger pieces of light are raining down as the ground continues to shake. Frisk holds their hand over their heart, looking at the cracks above and around them. Undyne turns to Alphys; they hold each other tightly. Toriel looks up, not at the sky, but at her son, suspended in the air as everything topples around him. Asgore can't bring himself to look at anything at all. This was never what he wanted, this was never what he had expected. Sans tightens a fist, but he's looking as defeated as he has always felt.

"SANS… THIS… THIS IS IT?" Papyrus asks. For someone normally as cheerful as him, his shaking voice was disheartening.

Sans can't bring himself to answer that. He marches towards Gaster. "why?" he demands with surprising forcefulness. "why would you do this? why does it matter if any of this is right? why!?"

Gaster looks over everyone. "I… had to do it to save our timeline, Sans. Surely you of all people would understand that."

"you aren't saving a timeline, w.d., you're destroying one! look at this, look around you! how can any of this be right?" he asks gesturing at the other monsters, but then he looks away, rubbing angrily at his eyes. "i guess it doesn't matter now, does it? it's all over, everything is over. i'll never see 'em again… once was bad enough…"

Gaster tilts his head slightly. "You… truly have come to care for all this?"

"of course i have… this is my home. or it… was my home," he sighs.

"It wasn't. I can take you back to our old-" he starts, but Sans cuts him off with a sharp glare. It manages to look horribly intimidating, even without the magical glow to back it up.

"I won't go," he says firmly. He looks to Toriel, so overcome by the sight of seeing her child again just to have him ripped away that she's crying into her long estranged husband's shoulder. He looks to Undyne, who still hasn't let go of Alphys, but now has his brother locked under an arm as well. He looks to his brother, and for once, Papyrus doesn't seem to mind Undyne's rough affection. He knows he doesn't have much longer with his friend. Sans looks to Frisk, who in childish naiveté is trying to jump up to Asriel, as though anything that they do now will help the situation. "I… won't… go…" Sans repeats.

Gaster looks taken aback. "I don't understand… this world, there's so much that isn't right about it. There's things missing. Things undone…"

"who cares!?" Sans asks. "so what if a little is missing? so what if not everything is perfect? does it really matter if in this old timeline i forget to calibrate a puzzle or two, or don't get to see everything in the world? is that worth resetting everything? worth erasing everyone's happiness here? …no. …no, it's not."

Gaster puzzles over that for a minute. "…Sans-" he finally starts, but Sans just shakes his head.

"don't…" he says quietly. "just… don't…"

Gaster is silent for a long while until a falling piece of the sky seems to startle him out of the temporary stupor. He looks up to Asriel and raises a hand, glowing with blue magic. A blue aura appears around Asriel and he's lowered, slowly to the ground. Gaster steps towards him, purposefully. Frisk runs between him and Asriel, holding their toy knife tightly. Gaster shakes his head and simply moves them aside with magic. He reaches Asriel and focuses, bringing his right hand up and quickly swiping it away from him.

The light surrounding Asriel dims considerably, and his limp form falls to the ground. Frisk goes to him quickly. A brilliant white heart rises over Asriel's body as it dissipates, shaking violently. …A soul? That shouldn't be possible.

With a cracking sound, it shatters in half. Frisk covers their mouth, in shock. But then the two pieces shake again, and they form back together, refusing to break completely. Asriel's body forms back around it and he turns on his side, coughing.

Frisk breathes a sigh of relief, then looks up at Gaster, who is holding a brilliant ball of light in his hands. "I caused the first fluctuations in time…" he says to them. "I created the cracks that led to these many timelines… I thought… perhaps, it was my duty to correct them. And I believe that still. But it wouldn't be me who truly pays the price then… would it?" He must know they can't understand, but he gestures to the barrier anyway. "A pretty big mistake to fix, isn't it?"

And he steps forward towards it. The area all around them is filled with a blinding light, the crashing stops, and the world falls still. Frisk is knocked back from the sheer force of the energy, and though they cover their eyes, they can hear beside them as Asriel stands and runs away.


	18. The End of A Word

This is the end. Or at least, that's what I had thought.

Now through a sudden change of heart, Gaster rises above the ground and the cracks in the sky seal. Everyone looks to him as the chaos of the room ceases, and the light he had stolen from Asriel fades from his hand. He falls several meters and lands on the ground.

Sans runs towards Gaster as he lies on the ground, weak and shaking. "it's okay," he says quickly. "it's okay, i'm here… i'll help you, don't worry," he says. His older brother looks up at him, though his appearance is a bit different now, probably looking almost exactly as he had in life, the swirling darkness gone from his form. His eyes focus a little and he frowns, the cracks in his skull becoming more obvious. He raises a hand slightly and makes a few signals with it. Sans watches for a moment then shakes his head. "no. no, w.d. you'll be fine. i promise, you'll be fine. come on, the barrier is down and everything… we can leave this place. you can see the sun." Gaster smiles a little, then laughs weakly. "yeah… that's right, now come on."

Gaster looks at him and shakes his head. "Go on… go with the others. I'll remain here."

Sans frowns sadly. "look, everything that happened… it doesn't matter, you did the right thing in the end, w.d. i'll make sure no one holds it against you if that's what you're worried about."

Gaster shakes his head. "I've been dead… For a long time, Sans. Neither determination, nor the powers of time or space can change that." He coughs, holding his ribcage. "This is as far as I can go…"

"then what's going to happen to you?" Sans asks.

"I'll stay here…" Gaster says. "And with the power I took from you, and the determination I took from the fallen child…. I'll ensure that time remains whole…" Sans frowns, but Gaster smiles weakly. "In a way… that's what I've been trying to do anyway."

"but you... i've been trying to find you this whole time and..."

Gaster shakes his head interupting him. "You have others you need to look after, Sans... I know it's been hard for you. But you'll have to keep going."

"why does this have to happen now…?" Sans asks. "you… you finally did what you wanted… your dream… your vision. you took down the barrier, you did it, w.d."

"I know," Gaster says. "And so does everyone else. They'll… remember…me."

"you think?" Sans asks.

"I know they will," Gaster replies. "Look at Papyrus, look at Alphys." Sans does so, and a degree of recognition is in both of their eyes. "This whole time," Gaster continues, "I've been so alone... but knowing that the world went on without me was painful. I've wanted… at least one other person to think I… made a difference…"

"well you made a huge difference," Sans says.

Gaster smiles. "Thank you…" With those words said, he closes his eyes in concentration, apparently maintaining the timeline with the slight red and blue magic swirling around him.

Sans steps away quietly, and doesn't say anytning to anyone for a long while, contemplating what Gaster said in silence. After a while he sighs, looking to the others. Papyrus goes to him, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "so…" Sans says quietly. "now we cross the barrier?"

 **Yes. *No.**

Sans looks over to Frisk in surprise. "why, what's wrong?"

"FLOWEY, OR… ASRIEL, I GUESS. HE DISAPPEARED," Papyrus explains.

"well… can't leave that guy behind, now can we?" Sans asks Frisks. They shake their head and Sans manages a small smile. "know where he is, kid?"

* * *

In a small chamber, at the furthest reaches of the ruins, Asriel sits in a patch of flowers no longer glowing and looking much like he had before his first trip out of the underworld. He looks up, high above, at the single beam of light, shining down from the human world. Well… it wasn't just the humans' world anymore, now was it?

He plays with a flower quietly, running a thumb over the petals. "I… wanted to talk to you one more time, since I guess… without all that determination, you can't do much here, anymore," Asriel says quietly. "Huh, Chara? No more resetting?"

He's talking to me… Has he gone crazy with all that magic? Well… I don't have anything better to do than listen, though I hope he's ready for a one way conversation.

"Gosh… what a wild ride, huh?" Asriel asks. "So… was all that worth it? I think you might've had more fun if you'd just done like I said, played with me a few times, right?" He's quiet for a moment, as though expecting me to respond. "Well… I guess I never really knew what was going on in your head, Chara. …I think I'll… miss you though. Is that weird? After everything you did?" He looks down a little. "Will you miss me too?" he asks quietly. After a few moments he laughs a little to himself. "…Sorry, I guess it doesn't really matter."

He looks at a spot at the center, where Frisk fell and where I first took control of them. "So… are you going to go with them? I guess you probably have to. Maybe that's a good thing… having someone watching over them, you know? You can't be mean to them anymore at least." He looks at an empty spot in the flower patch and puts a paw over his heart. "I think… I have a soul somehow. But maybe I can just…"

His form shifts back to Flowey's and he stands a little taller than the rest in the little flower patch. "There… I guess I probably belong right here… right back to where this started. Heh… no more new visitors though." There is silence around him. "Gosh… I… guess I'll have to get used to that." He's silent for a long time, until he hears the sound of footsteps approaching and looks up.

Through a doorway, Frisk stands, looking at him. "Oh no," he says quietly. "You're… back. Again. Why do you always come back?" Frisk goes to him and pokes him. "Ow… why?"

 **You're a flower again? *That's not a good look for you.**

He looks down. "Yeah, maybe not." He shifts back to his form from before his death and stands. "You… should probably get going, Frisk. I bet everyone is waiting for you." Frisk shakes their head. Asriel smiles sadly. "Look… I know why you're here, you did the same thing last time, but… hey someone needs to take care of these flowers, right?"

 **Yes. *No.**

He tilts his head a little. "No? …Frisk, look, I can't go back. You can though, that's what you wanted all along, right? Why… why should I go back?"

"well your folks are going to miss you, for one thing," Sans says, leaning on the doorway. "and anyone who'd upset someone with such a wonderfully awful sense of humor as your mom needs a little push in the right direction."

Asriel looks over to him. "Oh… You brought Sans," he says a little flatly. Frisk nods.

Sans smiles. "hey kid, I know you might be upset about nearly causing an apocalypse but you really shouldn't worry, it wasn't the end of the world." Frisk rolls their eyes and shakes their head. "what?" Sans asks. "too soon?"

Asriel sighs. "You don't need to bother, I'm not worried about that, everything turned out okay anyway."

"well what are you still doing here then?" Sans asks. "you've got a soul now and everything, right?"

Asriel looks spooked for a moment that Sans knows, then realizes he must have seen it when he nearly died. "It's… it's complicated, and I don't want to talk to you about it, okay?"

"WELL CAN YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT IT?" Papyrus asks, running in. "GEEZ, SANS, YOU'RE ALREADY HERE? SOMEONE AS SHORT AS YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T BE SO FAST."

"well, see," he starts to reply, reaching into his hoodie.

"SANS, DON'T YOU DARE."

He holds out a red bottle. "i really like to 'ketchup'," Sans says with a wink.

 ***Terrible. Haha.**

"UGH," Papyrus agrees before turning to Asriel, "DO NOT WORRY, LITTLE ASRIEL, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ACTUALLY A GREAT MOTIVATOR. YOU JUST NEED TO PICK YOURSELF UP AND COME WITH US NOW."

Asriel shakes his head. "No… no thanks… there's nothing there for me anyway."

"That's no attitude to have, daisy!" Undyne shouts as she rushes in. "C'mon, you've got a whole surface to see! Anyway, your dad is upset you decided to run off so I'm here to drag your sorry butt back whether you want to go or not!"

Asriel looks at her. "You can try."

"Why, we gonna have another fight?" Undyne asks with a competitive look before grinning widely. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But seriously kid, you should come with us."

"Look, I know all of you mean well, but…" Asriel starts, but ends up trailing off. "Look, none of you would understand, I can't go back after everything I did…"

"I uh… I… Understand th- that… Asriel," Alphys says, meekly standing in the doorway still. "I mean um… um… the whole… g- guilt thing. I get it. It's… hard to believe anyone could ever forgive you for things you've done but… take it from me, hiding doesn't… you know… solve anything."

Asriel frowns a little. "I didn't think you'd show up…"

"Y- yeah, I'm not surprised," Alphys says. "But I kind of owe you f- for the whole uh… DETERMINATION… experiment… stuff. So… are you sure you can't come with us?" She walks into the room and joins the others.

Asriel looks at all of them. "You're all wasting your time. I don't deserve to go back… I didn't even manage to help anything this time around…"

"THAT ISN'T TRUE!" Papyrus says. "YOU SAVED MY LIFE, THAT'S SOMETHING!"

Alphys taps her fingers together. "A- and you uh… kind of forced me to come clean with everything, and I think that's… uh… helped me a little, so… there's that…"

"And you aren't really anywhere near how annoying I said you were!" Undyne adds.

"Gee, thanks," Asriel says.

Undyne grins in response. "Lighten up! But seriously, you've worked harder to make things right than anyone! Everything you did took some serious guts, and I can respect that."

"anyway, you really aren't as bad as you think you are," Sans says. "so you did some weird stuff as a flower, who cares? you can't let that o-posy your progress now."

Asriel tries not to but he ends up cracking a smile anyway.

"heh, i've always says there has to be something good about people who genuinely enjoy bad jokes," Sans says with a wink.

"WELL WHAT ABOUT ME THEN?" Papyrus asks.

"no one's perfect, bro."

"So, you coming, tulip?" Undyne asks.

Asriel frowns. "I… I just…"

"Asriel," a gentle voice says. Asriel jumps and looks up as Toriel walks through the door. "…My child… Will you please come back with us? …I've missed you, you know."

"Mom…" Asriel says quietly.

"She isn't the only one," Asgore says, walking in. "Son… please come back."

Asriel blinks away tears as he looks at all of them. Frisk holds his paw. He jumps a little, not having expected it and looks at them.

 **… *It's time to go home.**

Very slowly, Asriel smiles. "Yeah… I guess it is." He takes a last look at the flower bed, and follows them back to the barrier.

* * *

And I watch all of this, without being able to do anything. So this is it… the end for me. Without my determination, I can't control Frisk. Without the disturbances in time, I can't reset. …There is one last thing I could do however. I still have the option of deleting the entire world. That, no one could take away from me. I ready myself, taking one last look at the world around me.

Although Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, Frisk, Asriel, Toriel, and Asgore all knew of what really took place to bring down the barrier, it was at Sans's request that they didn't give a full account to anyone else. As a result, W.D. Gaster was known to Monsterkind primarily as a hero. A hero not only of great intelligence, but of great determination, who had freed all of them even after being erased from memory. The treatment of him annoyed me, but it didn't surprise me. Sans had never fully given up on him after all, and through everything that happened, Gaster had remained his idol in his own mind.

With nowhere else to go, Frisk had been almost immediately adopted by Toriel. She and Asgore agreed to try to work things out for Asriel's sake as they rebuilt their lives above ground. Frisk was able to live and play alongside Asriel. Things worked out pretty well, in that sense. And through all their trials, they had grown even closer than Asriel had been with… …well… at least that's how things seemed, but there was no telling how he really felt. At least that's what I told myself.

Alphys and Undyne had started dating officially not too long after leaving the underground. Frisk found out through social media, just before Undyne had called Papyrus, and Papyrus had called them to tell them the exciting news. All three monsters, along with Sans, promised they'd be visiting frequently once Toriel and Asgore built a place that Asgore liked to call "New New Home." And a month or so later, they did just that…

"DO NOT FEAR, CHILDREN, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE ARIVED." Papyrus goes in, cheerful as always. Frisk smiles at the sight of him. Through everything that had happened, he was still quite possibly the second best friend they had made in the underworld.

"Hey, good to see ya," Asriel says. Though it's taken him some adjusting, he seems to have been doing well out of the underworld. He seems almost like a kid again, which I suppose he is now.

Frisk looks at Papyrus, or more specifically the shirt he's wearing, with " COOLSKELETON95" logo printed in bold colors on the front. "AH, I SEE YOU HAVE SPOTTED MY ADVERTISING! IT IS FOR THE HUMAN INTERNET, I AM VERY POPULAR THERE. ESPECIALLY WITH MY COOKING VIDEOS."

"Really?" Asriel asks, sounding as though he doesn't really believe it.

"OH YES, I'M JUST A DOZEN MORE SUBSCRIBERS AWAY FROM THE… ER…" he pauses to think. "SEPTUPLE DIGITS? …IS THAT THE RIGHT WORD?"

"Wait, you mean a million!?" Asriel asks in shock.

"WHAT CAN I SAY, I HAVE STAR POTENTIAL!" he says happily. "IT'S JUST THAT NO ONE ON THE UNDERNET APPRECIATED ME."

Come to think of it, it wasn't too surprising that humans found Papyrus's… quirks interesting.

"So, how's your brother?" Asriel asks.

"OH, SANS IS GREAT. HE REALLY LIKES HIS NEW JOB TOO, HE DOESN'T EVEN FALL ASLEEP WHILE HE'S DOING IT ANY MORE," Papyrus says, then frowns a little. "THOUGH HE IS STILL TAKING SEVEN HOUR NAPS AT NIGHT. WHAT A LAZYBONES."

"Hey, sleeping's just so easy though, I can do it with my eyes closed!" Asriel says.

"AH, NO! YOU GOT THAT ONE FROM SANS AND IT'S JUST AS BAD WHEN YOU SAY IT!" Papyrus protests.

"heh, well i'm proud of him," Sans says.

 **? *How'd you get here?**

"shortcut," Sans says. "heh… kidding, still can't do that anymore. I just took a cab." Sans looks oddly... happy, rather than just being cheerful, perhaps for the first time in a long time. It had taken him a while after everything had happened to recover, but he seems to be doing better than he had been. He looks at his brother. "hey papyrus, alphys said before I left work that she and undyne would be here soon."

"GREAT!" Papyrus replies. "I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO SEE UNDYNE IN WEEKS, SHE'S BEEN SO BUSY!"

Asriel looks to Sans. The skeleton was once a great fear of his, but they were now almost friendly. "So you work with Alphys now?" he asks.

"yeah, sort of a multidisciplinary position relating to the scientific study of magic at this human research university," Sans replies casually. "no big deal."

 ***Sounds like a big deal. Cool.**

"meh, it's just kind of fun. speaking of which…" he says getting a look on his face.

"OH NO…" Papyrus says, sensing the imminent pun.

"i'd tell you guys this chemistry joke… but i don't think i'd get a reaction," he says with a wink. Papyrus groans and Frisk wrinkles their nose. Asriel smiles a little, mostly at their faces.

 **Still terrible. Haha.**

"heh, oh well," Sans says.

Not too much longer later, Asriel looks through a window as Alphys and Undyne arrive. Undyne nearly tackles Papyrus and Alphys laughs quietly at his protests until Asriel discretely pulls her aside. "S- something wrong?" she asks quietly.

"No, not really, but… did you figure out that… soul thing?" Asriel asks looking to make sure no one else is listening.

Alphys shakes her head. "Not y- yet but from what I've found, it's a little different from most souls. It's completely made of magic."

"It… won't disappear again? Will it?" he asks nervously.

"I don't think so… it seems, uh… stable. So at least there's that," she says.

Asriel nods in silence, thinking about that. He's caught off guard when Undyne goes over to him, pulling him under and arm and rubbing her knuckles on his head. "Ow! Undyne why!?" he asks.

"Heh, miss me, sunflower?" she asks with a grin.

"No!" he yells, trying to struggle free. Frisk watches and laughs a little. "Ah, Frisk, don't laugh, help!"

"Oh c'mon, all powerful Asriel can't take care of himself?" she asks, amused.

"I don't want to accidentally disintegrate you," he says threateningly. He pulls himself out of the headlock and fixes his fur. "I'm going to have to shape shift horns to get her to stop…"

"Can you do that?" Alphys asks curiously.

"The disintegrating or the shape shifting?" Asriel asks. By the look on her face, he can probably tell she means both. "Uh... yeah, but it's weird to change how I look," he admits. She looks like she's working up the courage to ask more questions when Frisk strays off into the kitchen. "Oh hey, wait up," he says, following after them.

Frisk looks at a pie Toriel is pulling out of the oven, the size of it intimidates them. I wonder if it's snails or butterscotch. Toriel sets it on the table as she smiles at the both of them. "Dinnertime is soon, you two. Asriel, would you mind getting your father?"

"Alright," Asriel says. "C'mon Frisk, I'll race ya outside!"

* * *

And I watch them run and play, I watch them gather around a table and eat dinner together, I watch all of them joke and laugh with each other… all of them like an odd family in a way. I can't help but feel a deep emptiness when seeing them so happy to be together. But I can end that… right now. No more world out of my control… no more Frisk or Asriel, no more skeletons, no more of anything…

It's their fault after all. They refused to obey me. They wouldn't play by the correct rules. It was their fault for trying to keep me from playing with them how I wanted to. So if they couldn't fulfil their only purpose, it was practically my duty to erase them. I prepare for it, almost glad to be rid of them.

I hesitate… But _why?_ This should be so easy for me. I take another look at them, and after some deliberation, I turn my back, and I decide to just ignore them for now.

Now I wonder to myself, does this mean I lost? Sure, everyone got a happy ending again, but that wasn't at all what I was aiming for. What occurred in this timeline was not of my own volition, and in the end, the only thing I did to affect the final outcome was deny Flowey his only request if I restarted things. I suppose, in that sense, I did lose. Frisk may not have ever died, or lost a boss fight, or anything of that nature, but I still lost.

But this time there was no staying determined, and I knew however I continued to push forward, my actions wouldn't matter. I supposed at this point, my presence, my influence, my power… all those things would just be bad memories in Frisk and Asriel's minds. My old playthings might even forget me one day, and I'd be lying if I said that that thought didn't fill me with fear. And yet… after everything that happened, I know that deleting them now would just leave me with nothing but an utterly hollow victory. I just… can't do it. Not now anyway.

But maybe none of that matters. Maybe in the end, nothing that I did matters at all. Even through the deals I took, I only hastened the loss of my power. But… in a weird sense, that might almost be okay.

Because maybe… just maybe… not everything in this world is just a game that's meant to be won.


End file.
